Subverted by Da_Nuke. He met a bunch of Arab guys who decided to play him a prank by making him eat something that had incredible trainloads of ''harissa'', a Tunisian paste of chili peppers and spices. But little did they knew, that back in Mexico, Da_Nuke often had gastritis from being already so numb to chili he used to eat ''that'' much...

Also subverted when he ate an habanero while dining with the Senegalese. A woman looked in ''absolute'' horror as he ate the chili... and great awe and surprise filled the room when he declared: "In Mexico I've eaten hotter stuff!".

There used to be a Thai restaurant where ThisTroper lives that was notable in that it was possible to order food with insane levels of pepper. While it only caused the people eating there to feel like they were breathing fire, it also caused physical reactions (depending on the person) such as flop sweat and ''projectile tears''. I am not making this up.

The subversion sounds an awful lot like me and a friend - we both LOVE food that bites back.

I went to a sub shop that had various hot sauces available, and got to chatting with the guy making my sandwich. I asked to sample one of the sauces, then dabbed a sample of it on my finger to lick rather than having it on my sandwich. I found the sauce to be fairly strong, but I wasn't screaming in pain like many other diners - and Sub guy was concerned that I hadn't reacted much.

I went to a chili contest and had to sign a waiver to get a sample of one recipe. Taste was nasty bitter, but the heat was deliciously brutal. It was hotter than the above hot sauce, and would probably make a good sauce.

My friend got into a pepper eating contest against a Mexican, and won without even trying. She'd probably enjoy doing lunch with Da_Nuke.

First time I went to a particular restaurant which serves Tibetan food, I chose a kind of chilli meat dish. My family warned me that it'd be really hot -- I waved away their concerns. It ''was'' incredibly hot -- almost painfully so -- yet somehow still delicious. I've been back there many times, but I've never ordered that particular dish again.

One time when I was 5 or 6 we went to Chuck E Cheese for my brother's birthday. I went to take a piece of pizza and my dad said it was spicy and would "cause my mouth to light up like a Christmas Tree". I ignored him, took a bite, and it was indeed spicy. For about 7 years I avoided spicy things like the plague until one day I decided to try something spicy and actually liked it.

This troper's grandmother accidentally ate a large glob of ginger, thinking it was marmelade. The resulting facial expression was hilarious.

My mom (who is a total wuss when it comes to spices) did the same thing with candied ginger. She thought "oh, ginger candy. Can't be all that spicy." She took a bite, got this ''look'' on her face, and literally threw the bag at me. Seeing as I use Thai peppers in my regular cooking, the ginger didn't bug me a bit.

This troper once made the mistake of pouring one dipping cup of Domino's Pizza Hot Sauce onto his burritos for lunch. I didn't figure it'd be too hot...but I soon learned otherwise; it was super hot. Needless to say, I never did that again.

Years ago someone that doesn't know about TroperTales pages once touched her face after cutting some green peppers (couldn't remember the type). Minutes later she was writhing and crying in pain as the sensation of having her face and eyes being burned alive took effect.

Whenever I go out to eat I get something spicy (with a few exceptions).

This troper's uncle once ate a huge mouthful of wasabi, thinking it was guacamole. Needless to say, hilarity ensued.

So did mine.

When This Troper was smaller (about 11), and hadn't caught up to the "yeah, I'll take a shot-glass of insane" level of spicy, I downed a glob of Sriracha straight. Oh, it ''burned,'' but it was sweet and tangy, and too good not to have again.

Subverted somewhat with this troper, who has developed increasing tolerance to capsaicin, and barely notices anything under 80000 SR. He's itching to try Sichuan cuisine to get the same rush he used to get from Thai peppers and tabasco (which is now tasteless to him).

I know a pal who keeps a bottle of pure capsaicin lying about for reasons unknown.

The British can make some serious holy-shit chili con carne. About ten years ago, I was in England with his family and I ordered a Yorkshire pudding with aforementioned not-soup. Cue screaming in pain. My dad ate the chili and I sort of managed to get the pastry down eventually. That said, these days I'm pretty damn near immune to this trope, so I may have to go back for a rematch. If only I could remember the pub we had that at...

A favourite trick to play on visiting American students used to be to invite them to put plenty of mustard on their burger.

I had some particularly spicy wings once, after boasting that she could handle it. Less than a minute later, she had drained her glass of water, her mother's, her father's, and was in the bathroom drinking out of the sink. This repeated several times throughout the meal.

That was your first mistake; water just makes the burning WORSE.

Milk, honey. Milk or beer; water is for when you want to ''enhance'' the burn.

Although it does impart a delightful sensation of heat running down one's throat.

My brother once dared him to eat his entire chunk of wasabi at a Japanese restaurant. To this day, the mother of the two insists the younger sibling turned completely bright red during the worst of the effects.

Here's a weird example: I ordered the very unspicy Mac And Cheese at Panera Bread. I made the mistake of accidentally swallowing it whole without any kind of cool beverage around. My mom said that my face was scalding red. All because of choking on macaroni and cheese.

This troper's mother once preached at a Mexican-American church. There was a potluck dinner after the service, and she was assured that a specific pot contained "the gringo chili". More like "the prank-the-gringo chili" -- it was the hottest thing on the table.

My mother loves telling this story: she was hanging out with some friends at a Japanese restaurant, having something with wasabi. In comes her friend who sees the huge dish of wasabi, exclaims "GUACAMOLE!" and takes two fingersful and sticks it in his mouth. HilarityEnsues.

This troper loves his hot stuff. Once, he at a glob of wasabi the size of his thumb (actually, twice, now that he thinks about it). He's tricked two old roommates into eating his hot sauce (left them in tears), and actually has a t-shirt from a hot wing challenge (12 of their hottest wings in 6 minutes. I did it in 4:34. I've had hotter).

I freaking love hot stuff. My family and I, in lieu of pizza one Saturday night, ordered hot wings from this local bar and grill type joint. I felt like becoming this when I took a bite. I choked down two (where I can usually get down five or six in one sitting) before giving up. My father later approached me and said they were too hot for him, too. He and I are both of the ''if we are not crying, it is not hot enough'' school of thought. If it's too hot for us, it's too hot for most human beings.

In this troper's hometown, there's a restaurant that serves a "Hotter Than Hell Burger." It has multiple types of peppers in it and "Atomic Ghost Sauce" made from ghost peppers (and they also serve it on hot wings). This troper ate one once, and while it was ''the'' hottest food he has ever eaten, it was absolutely delicious.