Do you like spicy food?

[mvaliz]

I hate spicy foods. I don't understand why people are willing to set their bodies on fire with them.

I used to think this way as well. When I was really young I couldn't stand hot foods at all and thought others were crazy. Then, one day in my 20s, I was out with some co-workers at El Famous Burrito. They were just lobbing on the sauce and I said the same thing to them: "How the hell can you even eat that? You would lose all sense of taste!". They laughed and, for a joke, I took a smell of the hot green pepper sauce from the bottle. I smelled it three times, not believing I was LOVING the scent of it! So, I dabbed a bit on my burrito and took a bite.

That moment changed my culinary life forever! :P

I went from hating spicy to absolutely LOVING spicy foods! I've got all kinds of hot sauces at home. That, and cyan pepper are my staples in a lot of foods I eat now! :P

I guess what I'm saying is my tastes changed over time, and suddenly I enjoyed it. Either that, or I had to have the right kind of spicy. One thing I know is if it's got too much heat with no flavor, it's worthless to me. I want that right balance blend of heat, flavor and texture. Tabasco is dump... but if you like it, go with Franks instead as an alternative. at least Franks has a good pepper flavor, unlike Tabasco. My favorite though is Louisiana Hot Sauce! That just goes with anything and everything! ^_^

[Dekkers]

Yes.
If you don't like spicy food you probably have low testosterone. (serious)

[Breccia]

Fuck yes I do. Like everyone else, I have a limit, but most restaurants don't hit that limit, and I'll do "spicy" over "savory" about half the time.

[Taurenburger]

Yeah I love spicy food! But then again, that's not really a surprise given that my mother's parents are Indonesian and that I therefore grew up with spicy food.

[Donald Hellscream]

depends, if it is spicy to the point where it completely overpowers everything in the dish then no but a mild burn that compliments rather than overpower the rest of the dish is alright in my book.

[Lane]

Nope. I'm sensitive to capsaicin, it causes burning throughout my mouth and down my esophagus. I won't be able to taste anything after the second bite and will suffer from heartburn afterward, which I rarely get otherwise.

I like wasabi though, which strangely people seem to consider "spicy". Unlike capsaicin, it doesn't persist past the first bite nor does it feel like I just coated my insides with acid.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

It has its place. Just about anything I like can be eaten on the spicy side as well. Just as I have gotten older its side effects often determine when I go for it. I mean I don't really want to risk having heart burn at work for example. So I will keep it a little bland for lunch on the weekdays to avoid it.

But I like spice to bring flavor. Just pointless heat isn't my game. But heat with some flavor is always welcome at the time right.

[Dacien]

I've got all kinds of hot sauces at home.

This is just what I have near my desk. Most of the time a little bit of each goes into one single burrito, bite by bite.

[Garnier Fructis]

If my face isn't red, I'm not sweating and my nose isn't running, then it's not spicy enough.

The vast majority of "spicy" dishes I've tried at restaurants, diners, cafes, etc. have been really bad jokes.

[Dacien]

If my face isn't red, I'm not sweating and my nose isn't running, then it's not spicy enough.

The vast majority of "spicy" dishes I've tried at restaurants, diners, cafes, etc. have been really bad jokes.

I have to carry around my own hot sauce in my center console specifically because the Mexican places I go to aren't nearly spicy enough.

[belfpala]

I have a hot sauce collection now numbering 50 bottles, and 10 of them are on this computer desk.

Nothing left to say.

- - - Updated - - -

I have to carry around my own hot sauce in my center console specifically because the Mexican places I go to aren't nearly spicy enough.

I want to fix that for you, but distance.

[Splenda]

"Spicy" is a bit vague, as flavors and levels differ wildly. As a general answer, yes, I do.

[belfpala]

"Spicy" is a bit vague, as flavors and levels differ wildly. As a general answer, yes, I do.

Right, I use Huy Fong brand Sriracha like most people use ketchup, but I detest regular Tabasco. (The green Tabasco version is magic with avocados, btw).

[WskyDK]

Love incredibly spicy food, but I have to be in the mood since the heat usually comes at the expense of flavor.
Hottest sauce I've had came in at 2.5m scoville (second dimension hot sauce) and yeah, it was hot, but about a half second after I tried it my taste buds we're blown out and I couldn't taste the actual pepper taste.

[Mormolyce]

I'm not a spice junkie, but I do like spicy food. It's difficult to know what people mean by "spicy" because of how relative it is to your experience, and food branding being wildly off depending what you buy and where (mainstream commercial food marketed to white people as "spicy" is generally what I'd call "not spicy at all"). But by my personal standards I like a "moderate" amount of spice. I'm not a chili wuss but I have my limits.

Spice is great but I definitely think there's such a thing as "too spicy", like when the spice is so strong it overpowers the taste of the dish completely. IMO that's actually ruining the food.

A friend of mine in high school was a real nut for spicy food, he used to make his own spice mix using the hottest spices he could get his hands on (which took a bit of doing in Australia in the 90s). He'd put that stuff on EVERYTHING.

[Dacien]

Right, I use Huy Fong brand Sriracha like most people use ketchup, but I detest regular Tabasco. (The green Tabasco version is magic with avocados, btw).

The "paste" style hot sauces are the best, in my opinion.

[Mormolyce]

Depends on what you call spicy.

Thai spicy - yes, any day.
Indian spicy - no thank you.

That's funny, I kind of feel the opposite way. Thai spicey often has a more acrid taste (especially when it's very hot), whereas Indian spicey tends to be heartier and more umami. I find the latter more palatable.

[Dacien]

Spice is great but I definitely think there's such a thing as "too spicy", like when the spice is so strong it overpowers the taste of the dish completely. IMO that's actually ruining the food.

Absolutely. The best hot sauces, imho, don't try to melt your face off, they achieve great flavor with strong heat.

I actually think flavor is a bigger factor than the heat, like in the case of Louisiana Hot Sauce; weak on heat, strong on flavor. Flavor always wins out.

[Twix]

No, don't understand how people can enjoy burning their mouths with fire.

[Dacien]

No, don't understand how people can enjoy burning their mouths with fire.

If you ask the Mexican people that I work with, they will tell you, spiciness is meant to enhance the food-eating experience. To enhance the experience with additional sensations.