Being a lover of spicy foods and a self-proclaimed hot sauce addict, I attended the Fourth Annual Pepper Fest in Pinellas Park this past weekend. There were many purveyors of spicy sauces, salsas, marinades and pepper plants, in addition to cold treats to combat the heat — both Scoville- and weather-wise. For the kiddies, there were crafts, bouncy houses and even a few face painters decked out in Ren Fest garb (I didn’t quite understand the correlation there, especially seeing as it was hotter than the dickens out there).

Locally renowned vendors included: Intensity Academy, best known for their all-natural Chai Chipotle hot sauce and Chai Thai Teriyaki marinade; Tahiti Joe (complete with Hawaiian shirt) and his tropical-themed hot sauces; Brimstone’s gourmet pepper jellies; and Red Hot Tiki with humorously named sauces, like “Sauce Bitch” and “Colon Cleaner”.

The highlight of this two-day festival was, of course, the Pepper Eating Contest, which pitted participants against each other to see who could consume the most raw jalapeno peppers within a three minute period. The five entrants had to eat huge jalapenos, leaving no more than 3/4 inches attached to the stem, and if they were to “wretch” (in layman’s terms: “throw up”) they would be disqualified. I wasn’t surprised that all of the contestants were male — not that I don’t think a female could do it, just that females aren’t crazy enough to want to.

This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2010.