I do love chili but in reasonable (in my case small) amounts. Intense blow you head off heat that some folk like is a mystery to me. Pain and like you say no flavour doesn't seem to make much sense. I am a big wuss when it comes to spicy foods I will admit.
I love crushed new potatoes like you describe. I cook them, drain them and leave them covered in the pan (off the heat) for a few minutes so the potatoes fluff up. I then add plenty of butter, rock salt, cracked black pepper and chives, recover the pan and give them a fair shake. They brake up into nice rustic chunks and absorb the butter and get coated with a slight onion twang.