Is it ever really too hot to eat?

[annabelle]

See? You're a trend setter.

[gfweb]

Wow. You're right. Food Network just offered me a show.

[Kim Shook]

It's funny, but this issue came up tonight. It was 104 with a heat index of 126 today in Richmond. We had two lovely T-bones all thawed and ready in the fridge. And we just couldn't face them. The idea of big hunks of hot protein was NOT appetizing at ALL. So dinner ended up being a couple of scoops of egg salad and tuna salad. And crudités - I couldn't even muster the energy to make a salad! (I did use the toaster oven and make tots, though. We aren't totally uncivilized ).

[larryroohr]

I don't do well in the heat at all, I tell people my ancestors were Vikings and Eskimos (German and Irish actually).

I used to travel to Singapore for months at a time, suffered, and finally figured out people just move slower there, and are much thinner. Had an epiphany when I was going into the Weston hotel once from outside and was right behind a woman heading up to a very heavy swinging door, the person in front of her opened it to a normal width and went in, I expected her to open it the same which would be followed by me opening it again and going in, instead she didn't touch it... she slithered in sideways through the opening as the door closed. All of a sudden I understood how some people could live there comfortably and I suffered so much on every trip. I needed to slow down, stop rev'ing the motor, not in my nature unfortunately.

Don't see myself ever retiring to Florida or Arizona, but who knows when the ticker slows down. And yes I do lose my appetite when I'm miserable hot.

[Shelby]

If anyone needs a sweat based mixer, you can dump me in.

[SylviaLovegren]

If anyone needs a sweat based mixer, you can dump me in.

Ain't it the truth? This heat wave is intense.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

OK, I'll weigh in here from the tropics. Granted, it's winter in my province right now, so we're only going into the 80's, but our summers are in the 120's-130's. (At least it's a dry heat). However, what I'm about to say held true even when I lived in the upper Amazon basin (110-130 daily with 85-90% humidity; 100% humidity at the same heat level when it rains.)

I never lose interest in eating food, although I do lose interest in cooking hot food somewhere in the mid-90s. I also find that I get hungry at different times. When it's chilly, I want a hot breakfast, almost no lunch, and a big hot dinner. When it's hot, though, I want a great heap of fruit for brekkie, a huge 3-course hot lunch, and cold fruit-based drinks or helado de paila for dinner.

I can also speak to the fried things in the tropics question, because it's certainly done in Ecuador. Fried things don't put as much heat into your house or restaurant, or into the area around your food cart; they're fast, tasty, and in most cases here at least, the can be served lukewarm which puts less heat into your body. There is really nothing like a cold fried chicken snack on a very hot day - it satisfies the protein craving but doesn't unduly roast you.