Peperoncino
Festival 2004 in Calabria, Part 2 of 3
The Fiery
Festival... finally! (continued from Page
1)
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The
later the night, the more crowded it got at the festival. This
picture was shot just shortly after midnight! It pays to hold
siesta in the afternoon.
Every
year, the festival offers a unique collection of art,
presentations, science, satire, musical acts, folklore and much
more. But with no doubt, the main attraction is the countless
number of booths with food and nonfood stuff, most of it somehow related to the mighty
pod, of course.
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Even
the drawing of a Smart (a cute sub-compact car made by Daimler
Chrysler) was themed as "Lotteria del Peperoncino". The
winner was announced late Sunday night. I didn't win the car. Too
bad, I was so looking forward to driving home 1000 miles in that
cutie ;-)
The
municipal place was dominated by a giant inflatable chile pod,
clearly visible from any distance, and sponsored by Italian (!)
Dreher Brewery. Their beer actually tasted pretty good.
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As
last time, chile grower Massimo Biagi from the University of Pisa
managed to have pods of more than 150 capsicum varieties
from around the world all ripe
at the same time, and that just in time for the show. An
incredible feat.
For
five days, Massimo and his friendly family folks sold the pods at their booth and patiently answered
countless chile-related questions. Considering the ideal climate,
it's not surprising that many Italians like to grow their own
peppers.
Massimo's booth
was a gathering point for all hardcore chiliheads, and he's
doubtlessly one of them himself.
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This
time, various nurseries were present, too, offering an interesting
selection of potted chile pepper plants. Quite a temptation if you
traveled to Diamante by car...
More "hot" Products
As
with the last Peperoncino Festival we went to, we found quite a
few new "hot" products. Here's a selection...
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An
even greater variety of tasty cheeses was on display, for sampling
and for sale. Cheeses, whatta selection! The minibar refrigerator
in our hotel filled up quickly with delicacies like that one here
- a kind of Pecorino, but made from cow's milk rather
than sheep's milk. And of course kicked up with bits of peperoncino.
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We
also noticed an increase in spicy meat and sausage specialties -
from air-dried peperoncino ham to salsiccia piccante to chile powder
rubbed pancetta (cured and air-dried pork belly). To our
delight, samples were plenty. And yes, we spent more money. |
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While
on the subject of meat... The aphrodisiac properties of
chile peppers are often pointed out rather graphically here. The
hot pods are nicknamed "Víagra of the poor", and
there's even a salsa by that name (above). We also found a
capsicum concoction named
"Afrodisaco naturale", available as a "Kamasutra Collection"
with different positions on every jar. Gentlemen, get your peppers
ready! |
If
all fails, a glass of Vinagra may help,
a red wine, kicked up with peperoncino.
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For
a softer approach, try the peperoncino chocolate, or peperoncino honey.
Both really excellent, by the way. So, does it help? Hey, go find
out yourself! |
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For
yet more mood enhancement, hang some of those beautiful,
chile-decorated Italian glass lamps. Many styles were available at
a festival booth. I got the one to the right for our kitchen. |
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Peppered Presentations
The
organizers are always trying hard to bring entertaining and
educating elements to their festival. This years'
scientific-culinary presentation was themed Tartufi e Peperoncini
("Truffles and chiles"). We're talking wild mushrooms
here, not the chocolates named after it. It is widely known that
the forests in Calabria's Sila mountains are rich in porcini
mushrooms, but those rare (and costly) black and white
truffles can be found here as well. If you have a specially
trained truffle sniffing dog, that is.
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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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Powerpoint
Presentation: University biologists explained the mysterious
underground life of truffles - a complex symbiosis with forest
tree roots. |
Just
like chiles, truffles are believed to have aphrodisiac power, and their
fragrance is somewhat similar to musk. And
they're expensive - the plate to the right represents a little fortune.
Those ugly dudes can easily cost you a couple hundred dollars a pound. Truffles
are scraped or grated onto food and into sauces and soups
sparingly, just before eating. Slicers like the one pictured have been especially designed for this purpose. The
presentation's highlight was a free sampling of tasty truffle
specialties, like black and white truffle paté, and sliced pork spiced
with truffles and peperoncini. There was even great red wine, also free,
from nearby Verbicaro, one of Calabria's famous wine areas.
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Other
places in Diamante were set up with screens and chairs to watch
movies that fit in to the fiery fest. Elsewhere, an overhead
projector was installed, and hobby cartoonists got their chance to
compete with pros, cheered up by a large audience. Again we were
amazed by the many unusual ideas to entertain festival visitors.
Chile Eating Championship: A New Record We
already reported here
about the Campionato italiano mangiatori di peperoncino -
the Italian Chile Eating Championship, one of the highlights at
the annual Peperoncino Festival. This years' contest was quite
similar to the last ones, but there were more contestants, about a dozen,
who made it to the finals this year, and a new record was set. |
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Once
again, famous local entertainer and comedian Gianni Pellegrino
cheered up the contestants, and updated the audience on the progress.
After exactly thirty minutes of nervewracking, nailbiting thrill and
excitement, a clear winner emerged. Vincenzo Maiolino managed to
consume 729 grams (about 25 oz.) of chopped, really, really hot
chiles. Antonietta Career was one of the two female fire eaters
and finshed second with respectable 459 grams (15.5 oz.). As
last time, I had a chance to sample the contest chiles, and thank
you, a spoonful was enough for me, despite my fiery eating habits.
Unexpected Author Honors
The
annual peperoncino festival is organized by the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino.
To research the scientific and culinary aspects of Calabria's
capsicums and to promote chile usage in general, the Italian Chile Pepper Academy was founded by Enzo Monaco in 1994 in Diamante. Originally a regional association,
it already went national just two years later. Today there are subsidiaries in every region of the country, and
thousands of Academy members spread all over Europe.
When I wrote my extensive Eight-Part
"Tasty Travel" Report about Calabria,
Diamante and the Peperoncino Festival back in 2002, I had no
contact with the Academy, but my reporting didn't go unnoticed.
With little "warning", I was asked on stage during a
celebration on Sunday night, and named an honorary member of
the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino.
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First
I received a peperoncino wreath, then the handsome and
entertaining host of the show interviewed me. Arrgggh! Wish I had
started that Italian language class a little sooner! Without a
little help by our no less handsome friend Nunzia, I would have been in trouble... Next,
Accademia founder and president Enzo Monaco entered the stage, reached
into his pocket, and soon my chile wreath was accompanied by the institution's heavy honor medal, sporting a Greek mask and a
peperoncino. |
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I'd
like to take this opportunity to thank the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino
for this great and unexpected
honor - grazie mille!
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That's all from Calabria for this year. Well, almost...
Wow,
that was a nice surprise for ye olde author at the end of the
festival. If you'd like to go there yourself next year, I do have
some new recommendations for you - the great hotel we
stayed at this time, and a literally "hot" restaurant we
went to. So keep on reading here... |
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