I would agree with thisisnotanalt. I absolutely love spicy foods. However I find it difficult to find many restaurants which employ a good amount of spice without overpowering the other flavors in the food. This is why I typically make all of my favorite spicy dishes at home from scratch.
Too many dishes use such an overpowering chili, or chili blend, that the other nuances of the food are just lost. While I still enjoy these dishes, I prefer it if the chef can strike a balance of a very hot spice yet still taste the other spices such as the garlic, onion, corriander, cloves, or whatever else it is that makes up that particular dish.
For this reason I also make my own salsas and pepper sauces as well, although for most dishes I stick with my original Tobasco or Louisiana hot sauce. (as a side note, Louisiana hot sauce makes a fantastic buffalo sauce if you like to make yours from scratch)
That brings back memories. When I was younger I went to a military school for several years. One of our common bets was emptying an entire bottle of tabasco into a bowl and seeing who could drink the whole thing the fastest and not throw up afterward. That was one of my more common ways of making money
There's very few spices I actually enjoy the taste of, and generally I don't like strong flavours either... Only if it's a strong taste of something sweet (fruits and deserts, mostly). Prefer mild flavours, but not to the point of a bland taste. A bit of spice is good, but stuff like chili... I can't taste it, I can only feel the burn, so it adds nothing good to my food.
