West Dean Chilli Fiesta is near!

If there is one event that all chilli heads should attend out of all the chilli festivals that are around it’s West Dean’s annual Chilli Fiesta.

Last year’s show was pretty amazing, with around 150 stands and more than 10,000 people attending over three days. The great thing about West Dean Chilli Fiesta is that there is a little bit of everything for everyone.

Whether you just want a nice family day out or to sample every single hot sauce, spicy nuts and crisps, chilli chutney, chilli chocolate, chilli relish or salsa, chilli jam or jelly out there (and believe us, we did give it a good try!) the day is full of merriment and good spirit. Spontaneous dancing was to be found near live bands while food stands using great chilli sauces and relishes were of course part of what made the weekend so successful.

West Dean Chilli Fiesta was of course a good opportunity to see our suppliers such as Chilli Pepper Pete, Chilli Queen, Cambridge Chilli Farm or the Chilli Pepper Company which had its infamous 10 Minute Burn hot sauce taking pride of place on its stand but also to check out new chilli brands.

Although most people think of chillies as food there was a lot more to be seen at West Dean Chilli Fiesta such as a good range of hydroponics and plant foods such as Chilli Focus or Root Riot Cubes, chilli related china and textiles as well of course as chilli plants for sale. Edible Ornamentals Chilli Farm that we went to see a couple of months back were so crowded that we didn’t even get a chance to meet with the owners.

This year we shall be attending West Dean Chilli Fiesta on the 5th and 6th August with some friends who are actually quite worried that we are going to make them try chilli sauces such as Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Ghost Pepper 10 or Chilli Pepper Pete’s Dragon’s Blood! So come along and see if you can spot the boss of the Devil’s Garden there, it won’t be too difficult with a great big tattoo of flames on his left arm!

Chilli Pepper Pete - Chilli Sauce Banned

Chilli Pepper Pete has been around for a few years now and it is a brand that is mostly known for chilli sauces such as Dragon’s Blood, Sphincter Shrinker and Smokin’ Devil although it is also greatly popular for chilli products such as Chilli Pepper Pete’s Piri Piri Oil, Liquid Fire hot sauce and of course the hotter than hot chilli curry sauces that go by the name of Nagaloo and Goan to the Loo.

The latest noise around Chilli Pepper Pete though is due to the hellish Satan’s Shit Chilli Sauce which some consider to be more of a chilli paste. Satan’s Shit was one of the first Chilli Pepper Pete’s products we put on the Devil’s Garden as we knew consumers would want to try it and brag to friends and family if they lived to tell the tale...

With the festival season upon us a lot of chilli brands are keen to impress the crowds with new or established chilli sauces but Chilli Pepper Pete’s Satan’s Shit created quite a stir at the Taste of London festival as well as the Cheltenham Food Festival in the last couple of weeks when members of the public started feeling the burn a bit too intensely and had to be seen at the first aid tent. Chilli Pepper Pete’s Satan’s Shit was later banned from both shows which created even more publicity around the chilli sauce.

The last chilli sauce we heard that was banned from a chilli festival was The Chilli Pepper Company’s 10 Minute Burn Hot Sauce. People were seen to have “episodes” where they would roll themselves on the grass in fits of uncontrollable laughter. A member of the Devil’s Garden took a bit more than she should have at the Levens Hall Chilli Fiesta last year and apparently lost her hearing for a couple of minutes!

A lot of people think that chilli sauces cannot get hot enough, well there is now proof that The Chilli Pepper Company’s 10 Minute Burn hot sauce and Chilli Pepper’s Satan’s Shit chilli sauce are not to be taken lightly!

Established chilli sauce from Chilli Pepper Pete, new name!

As you might well be aware, Chilli Pepper Pete is one of the pioneer UK brands that has really made its mark on the chilli world over the years.

With chilli products under Chilli Pepper Pete’s belt such as the infamous Satan’s Shit, Dragon’s Blood, Dragon’s Slayer, Red Nagahunter or Nagaloo Curry Paste, it is easy to understand the popularity and dedication of chilli heads all over Britain and beyond for this delectable brand.

One chilli sauce that we cannot get enough of and is definitely in our top 10 of ultimate chilli sauces of all times is Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin’ Devil. This chilli sauce was originally called Dragon Hunter hot sauce but Chilli Pepper Pete went through a whole rebranding in 2011 so this is now called Smokin Devil.

One thing is for sure, the magic of this chilli sauce is still there. With a very specific type of cooking, Chilli Pepper Pete’s chilli sauces, chilli and curry pastes and chilli preserves, definitely have that “je ne sais quoi” that makes you go back for more.

Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil is made using the beloved chipotle chilli pepper which is in fact a smoked jalapeno. Other ingredients include onions, grape juice, apples, pineapple, herbs and spices but this is not to be mistaken for a sweet chilli sauce. Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil is at its best used on its own, with a good mature cheddar or mixed in with a slow cooked fresh tomato pasta sauce.

The smokiness of Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil is what people are after as much as the heat level which is rather medium so enjoyable for a wide range of people. It’s such as versatile chilli sauce that we use it on a daily basis, even if it is just a few drops or a good glug as there isn’t anything it doesn’t go with.

So get your hands on Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil while stock lasts! Your tastebuds will thank you!

Edible Ornamentals: The Products

We are looking into stocking some of Edible Ornamentals chilli products but thought we would give you an overview of what we tried when going on a tour of the chilli farm.

With a strong branding and good quality jars, bottles and labels, Edible Ornamentals is not cutting any corners and decided to show themselves as professional growers from the start. The first chilli sauce that we tried was the Anaheim one. Although the mildest of the lot, the flavour was absolutely amazing and deserves pride of place in your cupboard or fridge. This is a fantastic chilli sauce to use as you would ketchup and we cannot wait to stock it so we can use it on our burgers and bangers!

Edible Ornamentals Luscious Citrus Relish is a definitely winner and one of their bestsellers. The balance between the acidity of the lemon and the richness and sweetness of the relish is amazing. We have added it to pasta tomato sauce to lift the flavour up and it was to die for. The heat is medium but highly delectable.

Edible Ornamentals Inferno Hot Sauce is rather pungent as its name indicates. This is a very good everyday sauce for those who like spice although there are other great chilli sauces to be had from Edible Ornamentals such as a Sweet Chilli Hot Sauce, and Orange Chilli Marmalade, an Onion Relish and a fantastic Bramley and Habanero Chutney. Edible Ornamentals also smoke their own jalapenos, creating chipotles to die for.

We cannot wait for Edible Ornamentals to be able to produce a wider and bigger range of chilli goodies but in the meantime will let you know as soon as some of their products are available at The Devil’s Garden!

Cambridge Chilli Farm Visit - Part 2

After visiting Cambridge Chilli Farm’s crop of chillies, we set up camp in Tim’s kitchen, in company of his wife and young son and got talking about, you’ve guessed it, chillies.

Tim made us try some chilli products that are in the making so although it is not our place to divulge anything just yet, be assured that you’ll be in for a treat once these are on the market as they are truly outstanding!

Chilli festival season is upon us so Tim talked to us about all the ones he intend to be at in 2011, one of the big ones being obviously West Dean Chilli Fiesta. We will be there of course, although only as customers, and cannot wait to see what Tim is going to bring to the mix! We hope that Cambridge Chilli Farm will get a good spot as they truly deserve to be recognised for their hard work, integrity and devotion to all things chilli. The weather will also hopefully be better than last year. We don’t know what was worse, the rain or the multitude of wasps that couldn’t get enough of Cambridge Chilli Farm’s products!

Tim unfortunately didn’t have any of his Lucky 7 Hot Sauce to give to us just yet but he said that as soon as his crop is ripe he will make plenty more so we can stock it at the Devil’s Garden. The same applies to Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Voodoo Hot Sauce made with Chocolate Habaneros, a chilli sauce that is truly to die for and one of our current hot sauce favourites!

Cambridge Chilli Farm is one of those up and coming UK brands that is full of promises and anchors its reputation in honesty, value for money and quality at all costs. We cannot wait to see what Tim has got in store in the coming years and all heartedly hope that he and his wife will get the success that they deserve.

Edible Ornamentals: The Tour Part 2

Shawn showed us around his chilli farm ran with his wife Joanna, rightly called Edible Ornamentals. After seeing the most public aspects of the chilli farm we moved on to polytunnels and glasshouses that were more for commercial use. Rows and rows of beautifully kept chilli plants such as Hercules (a popular type of chillies mainly found in supermarkets) were to be found in either polytunnels or glass greenhouses but also tomatillos which seem to be a real winner at the moment especially when sold to restaurants.

We then arrived at a big tank that is part of the ingenious irrigation system. Shawn and Joanna seem to have had a rough time when it comes to setting up an irrigation system that would free up their time and allow for a precise watering of the plants. Each chilli plant is linked to this clever irrigation system that is run by a computer and can even modify the PH of the water that runs through it. With so many chilli plants to look after we are not surprised that Shawn and Joanna went for such a high tech irrigation system albeit a costly one but definitely worth having especially in view of the scale of the chilli farm and its plans for expansion.

The commercial kitchen was definitely impressive. Although set in a container much like the ones you would see on construction sites, this kitchen is well lit, extremely clean and well laid out. Shawn explained to us what happens from the moment the chillies are picked to the moment they are washed, pureed, cooked and bottled up.

There is nothing average about Edible Ornamentals chilli sauces and preserves as we were about to find out by visiting the farm shop which is set up in a small chalet type house. Edible Ornamentals chilli products are of course available but also other items such as Italian pasta, oils and sauces from other brands. Shawn went on to make us try several types of chillies so people could notice the difference in taste and heat level between each type and the tour concluded with most people buying some of Edible Ornamentals’ chilli products or chilli plants.

Overall, it was a great way to spend a Sunday, talking to people that are passionate at what they do. We cannot wait to see Shawn at West Dean Chilli Fiesta in August. We tried to approach him last year but the stand was absolutely mobbed. We understand why now that we know a bit more about them!