Why does the Observer consume extremely spicy foods?

Question

When an Observer eats, it is alway really spicy food. This seems to be a common characteristic of all Observers, since in the episode 8 of season 2 (August) they all put a lot of hot sauce in their meals.

In a quiet Indian-style restaurant, December and the Observer are joined by an associate, July, as they smother their meals with hot sauce.

Is there any reason for that?

Answer 1

The Observers are clearly detached from reality. They never show external emotion, and we've seen that they probably don't even experience time in a linear fashion.

But we've also seen that they aren't completely detached. August fell in love with Christine Hollis in the episode you mentioned. The nameless Observer we're familiar with clearly has an emotional attachment to Walter (after all, he didn't finally erase Peter from the timeline when he had the chance).

My guess is that they have a tenuous link to reality that allows some sensation through. The aforementioned relationships were preceded by long periods of observation. It's possible that spicy food is somewhat analogous -- it's the only thing they're able to taste.

Answer 2

Thanks to mbstang and IFightForTheLosers, it turn out that in episode 4 of season 1, The Arrival :

Walter offers some of the root-beer to the Observer, but the Observer declines. He comments that he could hardly taste it, anyway.

But he doesn't explain why he "could hardly taste it", so I think Plutor's answer is still superior.