I had a couple friends over the years who would even ask for food served “Thai hot”, saying that they would sign a waiver if they would hesitate to do so for an American. :-P

Meanwhile I went to a Buddhist temple one time (I like to learn about all religions!), but I was too far back to hear the warning delivered to my other friends. *I* cannot handle anywhere close to that level! :-D Nor do I feel like killing all of my taste buds to get to that point either.

I do find it fascinating to learn though, how the Western world historically (prior to refrigeration I mean) used salt to preserve food, while the extreme Northern world just flat-out did use refrigeration (hehe, I mean snow or near-freezing water), whereas the East mostly used spices, to greatly slow down the rate at which food would rot. And then all of them have used fermentation in some way or anther as well - hehe yes hint hint, but also food too:-D.