The New Zealand Chilli Eating Champs is run by Fire Dragon Chillies - who are growers of super hot chillies and make some insanely hot and tasty sauces. Check them out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fire-Dragon-Chillies/116064058412869
Elliot and I were mere spectators at heat four of the competition at Dos Amigos Cantina in Mission Bay last Wednesday.
What unfolded before us was 13 rounds of heat, vomit, sweat, burning, tears, joviality, disappointment, triumph, and the result of which was undoubtedly some employers missing a few people from work the next day.
So with vomit buckets strategically placed, rules explained, glasses of milk and cold beers at the ready (as soon as they hit the lips though, you're out), about 20 competitors lined up, waivers signed, and with mixed looks of excitement (from those who were probably chilli eating champ virgins), nervousness and sheer fear.
And so it began.
Round one
Asian red chilli
A nice enough looking, smallish chilli measuring about 20,000 Scoville units (very mild in comparison to what was to come). The standard rules for eating raw chillies were spelled out - it must be chewed for 30 seconds, once the 30 seconds is up, mouths are opened to show the pulpy mess and then it can be swallowed.
Everyone managed to handle this first offering okay, bar one guy in the corner who looked like he would be the first to falter, but did stay in and everyone moved on to the next round.
NB: Details of each round get a tad, ah, sketchier as the night went on and the red wine consumption went up.
Round two
Guatemalan chilli
Another raw chilli round, and at about 50,000 Scoville units, slightly hotter than round one, but still nothing compared to what was to come. Everyone managed to keep this one down, with some comments that the first one was worse (I think the first one really must hit ya hard and as the night went on, one guy explained it wasn't so much the heat of the chillies that he couldn't handle anymore, rather the excruciating stomach pain).
Round three
Chilli con carne
The first "food" offering of the evening and at first glance it looked and smelled pretty tasty. However, the closer it got, the scarier it looked. You know the chilli itself is going to be hotter than anything most normal people eat in their life, but then to see it topped off with some fresh super hot chillies, well, it really made my eyes water.
Everyone had to get this down and swallowed in three minutes, and while only just, they all managed. Different techniques were adopted - we had the scoff it down and deal with the pain afterwards way, the slow and steady technique, and even the pour it into a glass and drink it method.
There were a couple of the four women participating who struggled with this one, and a guy who reached for the milk, but after a loud "noooooo" from the crowd, put it down and everyone got there in the end. The next round would not prove as successful.
Round four
Rocoto
This beast proved to be more than one person's downfall, including the guy Elliot and I would have put money on, as he did so well last year. One minute it was going down, a couple of seconds later we saw it all over again. As he left the table, disappointed, he explained it wasn't so much the heat but the texture of the thing, and that physically it just would not stay down.
This rocoto claimed a few victims, and a couple of the vomit buckets had to be cleared - I think the poor waiter at Dos Amigos charged with that task must have been the new kid (I just hope the poor bastard didn't get the job of cleaning up what I hear was chilli chunk filled vomit in the urinals).
Round five
Chicken nibbles
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| I don't think they'll be going on the menu |
With a few casualties already, there were a few nibbles left over so Elliot and I managed to get hold of one to try. It most certainly was hot, edible (well, edible for us), but bloody hot. The heat stayed on the lips for a good few minutes, and combined with what these crazies had already eaten, I can't even imagine the pain they were in.
I don't think this round claimed any victims, but they soon started dropping fast.
Round six
Bishop's Crown
This Brazilian chilli looked cool. Scary, but cool. At about 100,000 units on the Scoville scale, they are getting pretty hot, and these were not small.
I think this round took out a few competitors (at this stage of the red wine consumption, the details not related to said red wine became minor), but I was still amazed at the amount of people still in and a couple of them were starting to look like front runners.
Round seven
Chilli soup
I guess the description "soup" was to make it seem as if they were giving these guys a meal, you know, pure nourishment. I think the description was a tad far fetching. Liquidised chillies would have been a tad more accurate me thinks. It was eye watering just to smell, but I would have consumed two bowls of the stuff rather than participate in the next round.
Round eight
Dried habanero
Now these are what I make our habanero powder from - yes, the powder of which I use 1/4 teaspoon for an entire batch of cookies - as it is that brutal. At about 300,000 Scoviille units, fresh habaneros are insanely hot for the lay person. An eighth of one of these puppies will make eyes water, then you go and dry them, and they are insaner (that's a word now). We use gloves just to handle these when taking them from the dehydrator.
When I saw these come out I was horrified, but ya know, they were halved (I imagine merely for the drying process) so one half was probably doable for these guys. Of course, they were then told to take two halves so they had a whole habanero.
Not only are these chillies hot, but the hard and dry consistency of them when they are dehydrated must make eating these so much harder, not to mention not having a drink to wash them down.
This certainly separated the men from the boys.
Round nine
Bhut Jolokia
These were the hottest variety of chilli Elliot and I grew last season. Trust me, they are brutal. And these ones were huge!
This got us down to four guys.
Round ten
Yellow Trinidad Scorpion Moruga
These were pretty. They smelt fruity and looked lovely and yellow. But they are bloody hot and at this point I could not comprehend that these people were still upright, let alone still eating these things.
This got us down to the final two competitors - the young guy who had been solid from the start and Old Man Winter, aka Santa, aka The Beard To Be Feared.
Round eleven
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia
An awesome looking chilli with a fantastic chocolate colour (not taste, unfortunately).
The final two chomped down on this super hot and looked like they were settling in for the long haul.
Round twelve
Another dried habanero just for good measure.
No faltering.
Round thirteen
A bowl containing a ridiculous amount of chilli was presented to the final two - The Beard took one look and shook his head. He was done (rather impressively with not much more than a bead or two of sweat on his brow) and the young gun took it out.
We had seen The Beard devour quite a large plate of nachos before the competition started - and according to one guy who went out about midway, eating beforehand is a must (he, unfortunately, had not).
It was a fantastic competition and a great night out (if you're watching). For my peeps in Wellington, the next round is at LBQ on the 26th - I highly recommend you attend, and if daring enough, grab a bottle of Fire Dragon Chilli sauce.
Elliot and I, along with four of our chilli-loving compadres, have tickets for the final at Hallertau on 13th July, which is part of a chilli and hops festival.
One can only imagine how much more brutal the final can get, but I am pretty sure I haven't seen the last of chilli vomit. Let's just hope this time I'm not close enough to get a whiff.
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| The remnants |
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