West Dean Chilli Fiesta 2011

@westdeanejf annual chilli fiestia at West Dean Gardens in Sussex  is fast approaching us. I have been going to this event for over 6 years now and each year it just gets better and better! The event has become so popular that for the first time year West Dean Gardens are given over to chilli madness for three days. Taking place on Friday 5, Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August.  Opening hours: 10.30 – 5pm (last entry 4.30pm).



Chilli Room

There will be over 150 chili related stalls this year! The west Dean website also reveals that the Cambridge Chilli Farm will be launching their ‘Lucky 7 Sauce’ at The Chilli Fiesta. It is the first to be made in the UK using ‘Yellow 7 Pot’ chillies. Alongside all of the stalls and tasters you can also attend a number of talks and events taking place throughout the grounds you can take a look at these on the official programme by clicking here. If you get hungary too there will be plenty of stalls on hand to satisty your need. I have made the mistake every single year of being too excited about the chilli stalls that by the time I make it to the hog roast they have closed. This year I will not be making the same mistake!!

If you plan to attend then you can pick up advanced tickets that go straight to your email by clicking here 

When there make sure you wonder throughout the whole garden and grounds you will find magnificently restored Victorian Glasshouses where you can admire a vast array of over 200 chilli peppers grown in pots in theand displayed in pristine rows in every shape and size ranging from serene green through to red hot. How many chillis will you discover this year? take a look at a few photos I took from the chilli green house at last years show here.



Veg Patch in the walled garden



@CaJohnFieryFood Holy Jolokia Sauce:

Support @chilepepperinst by buying a bottle of Holy Jolokia Hot Sauce and the Chile Pepper Institute in Mexico will receive a portion of the bottle sales helps to fund research and education at the Institute into the wonderful chilli pepper that we all love.

The Chile Pepper Institute is an international nonprofit organization devoted to education, research, and archiving information related to Capsicum. Since its inception in 1992, it has been a recognized research institute in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University 

Holy Jolokia Hot Sauce is very special indeed! A 2010 Golden Chile Winner from a great hot sauce producer CaJohns who continues to  go from strength to strength with his ever expanding range of unique and quality sauces. The hot sauce contains the Bhut Jolokia chili, measured at over a million Scoville Heat Units. This chili is also sometimes referred to as the ghost chilli or ghost pepper holding a Guinness World Record in 2007 for the hottest chilli in the world.



Bhut Jolokia



Not only will you be doing good by buying this sauce helping the research and development of the chilli pepper, you wont be disappointed by the fresh flavour and heat the sauce gives you in return. A notable interesting ingredient is 'lemon extract' which lifts and compliments the heat of the Bhut Jolokia surprisingly well. In fact the bottle claims:

"Caution: Your taste buds may cry out, "Holy Jolokia"

I found that I really couldn't put this sauce down and it felt great at the same time (maybe from the chilli buzz) that I was supporting the institute too. Pick up a bottle of Holy Jolokia from Scorchio by clicking here and see if you will cry out 'Holy Jolokia'. Tell your friends about this blog post so that they can add their support too.

Please publish this blog post on Twitter with the buttons below and +1 with the google button too. Lets grow all the support we can to help continue the great research.

Thank you and enjoy!

Chilli Cook Off Reading August 6th

I have just come across this great looking chilli cook off competition on Saturday 6th of August 2011, if you local  and cant get down to the west deane chilli fiesta then go check this event out instead and get some chilli ideas

At the first 1st Annual Reading Chilli Cook 20 teams will do battle in the beautiful gardens of the College Arms public house where they will have just 4 hours to cook a world class chilli from scratch.
Judging will take place at 4pm after which the public will be able to sample each team's effort. There will be live music, BBQ, a special "Challenge" burger for hardcore chilli-heads, face painting for the kids.

If you feel your chilli is worthy of such an event For more information go to http://www.chilligonebarmy.com/

Rookie Goblin Grim Reaper Foods

@GrimReaperFoods, who made their debut with a the awesome  The Evil One Hot Sauce' winning the 

Fiery Foods Festival in 2010 have now released a new hot sauce using jalapeno peppers Rookie Goblin Hot Sauce. Grim Reaper foods range is rapidly expanding and this jalapeno sauce adds a tasty entry level step to the growing selection.

When I first wrote this review the initial batch of Rookie Goblin Hot Sauce sold out very quickly. It took me a while visiting the local shows to get my hands on some to taste. Based on the last sauce I tried from this producer I knew that this one was likely to be tasty and I was right.

The ingredients or oranges and limes bring a great citrus note to the taste of this sauce. An interesting ingredient of note is the coriander. I would use this sauce in a number of Mexican dishes like fresh fish Tacos or a layer in each enchilada before you wrap and bake them. With the winning combination of coriander, jalapenos and spring onions I would also add The Goblin to a salsa verde if you can get hold of some green tomatillos

The label looks very cool and sinister though it does remind me a little of the monster from the movie The Forbidden Planet... perhaps the sauce has a secret forbidden ingredient?

In summary this is a tasty entry level sauce that everyone should love, a great additive to almost any Mexican dish and yet another sign of more good things to come from this new company