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FireTalkers: Interview with Danise Coon and Dr. Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute
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For over 15 years, the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces has done some of the most advanced work on scientific breeding and genetics of chile peppers in the world. I've recently asked Danise Coon and Dr. Paul Bosland of the CPI some questions on a plethora of topics. If you're unfamiliar with them, Danise Coon is the Program Coordinator and Assistant Director at the Institute. Dr. Paul Bosland is the co-founder and Director of the Institute, a Regents Professor in horticulture, one of the world's foremost authorities on chile peppers, a book author (his latest tome is The Complete Chile Pepper Book, which he co-penned with Dave DeWitt), and famously was the one who discovered the Bhut Jolokia, which was named the world's hottest chile pepper by Guinness World Records.
Danise and Paul gave answers on a variety of matters such as the Chile Pepper Institute itself, the world of chile peppers, their Holy Jolokia Hot Sauce co-created by CaJohn's Fiery Foods, Dr. Bosland's new book and if the Trinidad Scorpion pepper has any chance of surpassing the Bhut Jolokia in terms of heat...
Chileheads to Follow on Twitter
Unless you're a Twitter veteran, you may or may not know that for the longest time the chilehead community has been slow to adopt the social networking service. There has been a large contingent of both the BBQ world and foodies in general populating Twitter, but they're not specifically hot sauce and chile pepper fanatics. Thankfully, that's beginning to change.
Below are what I consider to be the most interesting fiery foods people to follow on Twitter. They're manufacturers, bloggers, spicy foods fans, and chile experts. Some may post or tweet a lot (perhaps a bit too much in a few cases!) and some hardly post at all, but I think they're all worth a look.
Please keep in mind that these are only hot sauce/chile related folks listed. If you're interested in BBQ Twitterers, a good "starter" list can be found here...
Chile Pepper Industry To Increase Production
Better news than from nearly one year ago, when New Mexico's chile yield was down due to disease:
Chile peppers are a hot, spicy subject among growers and researchers in the Southwest and West.
Cheaper foreign competition has robbed the market for U.S.-grown chiles. U.S. planted acreage fell from 35,100 acres in 2000 in New Mexico, Texas, California, and Arizona to 27,900 acres in 2008. Chile production in the Southwest alone totaled about 35,000 acres in the 1990s....
More Hot Sauce and Hot Pepper Sites You Should Visit
Earlier this year I listed what I thought were essential hot sauce and hot pepper sites from which you could get solid information and weren't necessarily shopping websites. In a never-ending quest for more and more worthwhile chile-centric content, I present to you a few more additions that are worth bookmarking and paying regular visits...
Jake Melnick's Battle Of The Bhut XXX Wing Eating Contest
Jake Melnick's Corner Tap in Chicago, Illinois wants to know – can you handle the heat? Jake's signature XXX Hot Wings are made with two of the hottest peppers in the world, the Red Savina Habanero and the Bhut Jolokia, the later of which currently holds the title of hottest chile pepper in the Guinness Book of World Records. Jake's is opening up the playing field with their first-ever "Battle of the Bhut," XXX Hot Wing Eating Contest, Thursday, November 5 at 6 p.m.
Jake's is currently seeking contestants for the "Battle of the Bhut," which is open to wing fans and heat-seeking enthusiasts alike. The winner will walk away with...
FireTalkers: Interview with Cleo 'Jake' Calloway, Jr. of Jake's Barbeque Sauce
Cleo "Jake" Calloway, Jr., president and owner of Jake's Barbeque Sauce and Seasonings Company, is one of the most passionate people I've ever talked to, and seems to be totally into what he does. He's extremely helpful and accommodating, too - I gave him a list of sample questions that I would plan to ask him a few days in advance of our phone conversation, and he e-mailed me back condensed but detailed answers to each one, which aided tremendously in the editing of this interview. And just speaking to him, he exuded an honest enthusiasm and love of what he does that it was darn near infectious. It was hard not to like this guy and what he does; and after reviewing his Barbecue Sauces and his Basil Marinade, I would say he does it quite well.
Before interviewing him, I had only known him as Cleo and did not know of his nickname, so it led me to start out by asking him...
Scott: How did the company get its name and who is Jake?
Jake: Jake is my great-grandfather, whom I was nicknamed after. After developing my first sauce and gaining approval on the flavoring from my parents and I was talking with them about the products when my mother mentioned that I reminded her of her grandfather Jake. Jake was an old time barbecuer and spent hours upon hours perfecting his sauces and dry seasonings. She said that I have that same level of diligence and persistence and with that I name the company Jake's...
The Burn Buzz - Spicy Food News 10/16/09
Sizzlin' it up with a fiery new edition of The Burn Buzz, where I list hot n' interesting links about spicy food and BBQ that have been floating around on the intertubes lately...
Hot Sauce Banned From Show - The 10 Minute Burn Extreme Hot Sauce was removed from sale at the Brighton, UK Fiery Foods Show
American Royal Barbecue Winners - From the 30th annual BBQ competition held in Kansas City, MO
Peppers Can Help With Neuropathic Pain - Maybe, a Little
USDA to Block Dutch Peppers Via Canada
Illinois Real Estate Agent Wins World Chili Cookoff in Charleston, WV
Taco Bell Tackling Cupcakes and Smoothies?
Wing Zone Inducted into Buffalo Wing Hall of Flame
Hear Scott's Audio Review on HotSauceWeekly Podcast
If you haven't already, check out the Hot Sauce Weekly podcast, hosted by Brian Meagher of HotSauceDaily.comand Randy Combs. The show, which focuses on the world of spicy foods with interviews and news coverage, already has three episodes under its belt and is getting better and better with each new one.
I'm very pleased to say that I've joined the podcast as a guest reviewer, and my first audio review on Crazy Uncle Jester's Blazing Hot Mustard can be heard in Episode 3!
The HotSauceWeekly podcasts can be played on any computer or any MP3 player or MP3-compatible phone, and are perfect for listening to while you're surfing the web, driving to and from work, washing the dishes, eating chiles or sucking down hot sauce.
You can subscribe to the podcast RSS feed here, or subscribe via iTunes here.
Capsaicin Could Stop a Heart Attack In Progress, Scientists Find
(NaturalNews) The late, famed herbalist Dr. John Christopher was nicknamed "Dr. Cayenne" because he was constantly recommending the healing powers of cayenne, the substance found in chile peppers that produces a sensation of heat. He especially advocated using it for cardiovascular health and even made the claim that doses of cayenne could stop heart attacks in progress. Now science has come up with proof cayenne does have a remarkable ability to help the heart. University of Cincinnati (UC) scientists have found that capsaicin, the main component of cayenne and other chile pepeprs, may literally stop a heart attack in its tracks when applied topically.
New research just published in the journal Circulation concludes that a common, over-the-counter pain salve containing capsaicin rubbed on the skin during a heart attack could serve as a cardiac-protectant - reducing or even preventing damage to the heart. The researchers found an amazing 85 percent...
Taco Bell Raises The Stakes on Value With the Black Jack Taco
TACO BELL® RAISES THE STAKES ON VALUE WITH THE BLACK JACK TACO
New Twist On An Old Classic Will Have Consumers Doubling Down on Taco Bell®
Irvine, Calif., October 14, 2009 – Winner, winner taco dinner. Starting today, taco lovers can hit the jackpot with the new 89-cent Black Jack Taco from Taco Bell®. It's a new limited-time-only addition to the 79¢-89¢-99¢ Why Pay More!® Value Menu and a fresh twist on the classic Crunchy Taco that's a sure winner.
The Black Jack Taco comes with a new, eye-catching black taco shell filled with seasoned beef and topped with zesty Pepper Jack sauce that kicks the flavor up a notch. This new tasty taco will be available at...
Tabasco Awards 'Hottest' Chef
10/13/2009 - Meeting today's tough economic challenges was the central theme for the 2009 Tabasco® Brand Hottest Chef Contest - and the prize for the one hot menu item that wouldn't break the budget was a $10,000 check.
Stephen Pribish, sous chef for Overbrook Golf Club in Villanova, Pennsylvania, won the $10,000 grand prize for his "Oven Roasted Pork Tenderloin with 7 Vegetable Couscous and Tabasco Green Chimichurri," which featured two different pepper sauce flavors: Tabasco brand Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce and Tabasco brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce.
Jared Cushman, a chef-in-training at International Culinary Schools at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, took the competition's student category prize of $2,500 for his "Chipotle Duck Breast Risotto" entrée. Contestants were asked to submit entrée recipes for any daypart of the menu - breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
"The winners in both the professional and student categories did an excellent job of incorporating our pepper sauce flavors into recipes that could be profitable items on any menu, which was the focal point of this contest," says Paul McIlhenny, president and CEO of McIlhenny Company. "The foodservice industry is particularly challenged in today's economic climate to meet consumer demand for uncompromising...
Review - Jake Albert's Fuego Rojo
With a name like "Fuego Rojo" (Spanish for "red fire") one might expect a delicious hot pepper sauce that would be used to coat your enchiladas or spice up some pork tamalitos. Instead, it's a unique sweet chile glaze made by Jake Albert's Specialty Foods of Ontario. Company founder Jay Calvert (his business' moniker is a play on his first and last names) recently shipped me a bottle of the stuff to get my thoughts on it...
Ten Commandments for a Chili Cookoff
After James Beck of EatMoreHeat.com posted that an Illinois real estate agent won this year's ICS World's Championship Chili Cookoff, I scoured the interwebs for more details on the event. Of course, I scrounged up some info at the Official ICS Chili Cookoff site, but I also came upon a semi-related opinion piece featuring the Ten Commandments of Chili Cookoffs at the Wilmington Star News website. Although I didn't necessarily agree with everything, I found it interesting nonetheless. Below is an excerpt:
Ten Commandments for a Chili Cookoff
by Paul Stephen
The StarNews turned into a battleground today as 11 of our employees vied for the in-house chili king crown as a fundraiser for United Way. In addition to scraping up over $100, a few finer points in competitive chili cooking came to light. Obviously, chili is a subjective dish, all beef and peppers in Texas, cinnamon and pasta up in Cincinnati. That being said, the judges (other StarNews coworkers) overwhelmingly favored the classic bowl of red. So without further ado, here are my 10 Chili Cookoff Commandments.
1. Chili is, above all else, about beef and chilies. Skip the ground and cube up some chuck roast. Otherwise unremarkable chili can become a star with a nice chunk of meat, and chuck roast can often cost less than ground beef. Likewise on the chilies. Use a mixture, maybe a few fresh jalapeños, a canned chipotle or two and a half dozen or so dried anchos soaked and run through a blender. Leave the McCormick Chili Powder on the shelf. You can do a lot better on your own with a little instinct and intuition...
October 2009 Chilehead T-Shirt of the Month - Official U.S. Chile Czar
I'm going to feature one particular t-shirt every month from Chilehead Tees. The one for October 2009 with be the Official U.S. Chile Czar T-Shirt.
Tired of all the czars polluting the current presidential administration - including the Automotive Czar, Stimulus Czar, Green Jobs Czar, Health Reform Czar and others? Well here is one czar office we can actually go for - the Chile Czar! And who better to be appointed to this position than YOU? This funny shirt sports the "official" U.S. Chile Czar seal, which features a bald eagle holding in its claws a chile pepper ristra and a banner saying "Ex Chile Igne Amicitia", which loosely translates in English to "Peace through chile fire". Show everyone who's boss by ordering this tee today. It's available in vibrant dark colors, light colors and gray, and white.
Cookie Coffee Mug
Here's a weird one - a coffee mug with a built-in cookie compartment under the main beverage storage area. Clever idea or not? Would you actually buy something like this?
