We had the opposite issue in Moldova! Moldovan food can be really wonderful, especially in spring and summer with fresh produce. It can be light on seasoning other than salt, a little black pepper and sometimes herbs, usually in rural villages. Hot sauce was a high-demand item for volunteers.

One Tunisian way to eat spaghetti was to roll the pasta onto a forks then rub it in circles inside a sliced hot pepper. I eventually lost a lot of it, but when I came back, I loved super-hot food.