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*** With 2005 Update ***
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by Harald Zoschke June 26, 2004 will be a memorable day in European fiery-foods history: Germany had its first Chile-Eating Championship. "Erste Deutsche Meisterschaft im Chilischoten-Wettessen" (say that 3 times!), or short: "DMiCW". Here's our report. The historical (hysterical?) event was held at the marketplace of Oberstenfeld. In case you're wondering where that is: that's in Southern-German Baden-Württemberg, right in the middle of Bottwartal, a lovely valley lined with vinyards, right between the cities of Stuttgart and Heilbronn. The contest was one of the main attractions at the area's annual summer street festival, called Oberstenfelder Fleckenfest. We've witnessed jalapeño-munching contests in Texas, and we've seen chile-eating competitions at the Hatch Chile Festival, as well as in Calabria. At these locations, though, many are used to consuming larger quantities of hot chiles. But how would German chileheads fare? |
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German chileheads had quite some opportunity to practice consuming chile heat -- for more than three years, our company Suncoast Peppers GmbH has been running the Pepperworld Hot Shop. By early 2004, the shop shipped hot sauce, salsa and other "hot" stuff to more than 12,000 German-speaking heat seekers. Many even grow their own chiles - with pepper seeds also available at our hot shop and through seed-swapping. Not surprisingly, Suncoast Peppers was the main sponsor of this chile championship. Raging Rules The rules of the contest were straightforward: Twelve candidates had twelve minutes to chow down as many chopped chile pods as possible. He or she who eats the most (by weight) shall be the winner, and will have the most fun on "the day after." The only sides allowed were olive oil to help gulping down the hot chiles, and some bread. With the first contest of this kind in the "former land of the bland," the winner is entitled to proudly call himself German Chile Eating Champion 2004. |
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Attractive prizes were waiting for the participants: All twelve received a 5 liter (1.24 gal) keg of beer - but only to use after the contest was over. The champion was also rewarded a prize money of Euro 100.00 (about $80.00), a stylish wrist watch (the organizer has a jewelry store) and of course the champion trophy. Also, the champion is automatically entitled to participate in next year's contest. Suncoast Peppers threw in goodie bags with hot stuff for all participants, and their highly popular "chilehead emergency box" for the grand prize winner. |
The Trophy |
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Powerful Pods The biggest problem was to find fresh hot chiles at the end of June, especially in Germany. To the rescue came a local produce dealer. He was able to get red Habaneros from Mexico, red Thai chiles, and Holland-grown Cayenne, all in spotless fresh condition, and blazing hot. Michael Meder, the organizer of the contest, came up with a cruel combination of 2 kg (4 lbs) habaneros, and 4 kg (8 lbs) each of Thai and Cayenne. Due to a varying mix of capsaicinoids, the compound that makes peppers hot, those chiles have a different heat profile. Thai and Cayenne deliver instant cutting heat, while Habanero heat kicks in with a delay, but provides a long-lasting burn. What a torturous mix. Ouch! All chiles got destemmed, coarsely chopped and mixed well, just hours before the contest started. |
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Hot Mix:
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De-stemming and chopping the hot pods.
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Under the supervision of Oberstenfeld's mayor Reinhard Rosner, the no-mercy mix was put on plastic plates at 100 grams (about 3 oz.) each. |
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The Dueling Dozen First the organizers had trouble filling up the dozen, but eventually, two female and ten male participants signed up in time to compete for the title of the German Chile Eating Champion. To the left of the contest table, there's the champion's trophy, Pepperworld's goodie bags and the chilehead emergency box. Participant #12 seems to adapt the color of his face to the pods on the plate. A helper dishes out olive oil, so the chiles will have smooth journey to the innards of the brave. |
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9:00 pm - perfect weather tonight. The contest starts. Thousands of visitors crowd the marketplace of Oberstenfeld and wittness Germany's first competition for heat. To the right, that's Michael Meder, president of Oberstenfeld's youth club, and host of the contest. He's also responsible for taking the exact time. That shouldn't be much of a problem for Michael - he is a professional watchmaker!
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The unusual event got a lot of attention by the media. That's twelve long minutes for twelve pitiful pepperheads. The result will not be just the German Chile Eating Champion - the organizers see a good chance to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. After all, the winner will automatically hold that record for Germany! Guinness reminds of beer, of course. Sharp-eyed readers will notice the pyramid of kegs right next to Michael. Those are the five liter kegs with delicious "Tannenzäpfle" beer from Rothaus, an area brewery. The tearful twelve start spooning down the hot chiles, the crowd is cheering. Back in the dark ages, market places drew crowds of the curious when people were tortured or executed. Michael insists though that all twelve are participating voluntarily... |
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The clock is ticking, and the chile-eaters are fighting hard. All twelve had practiced eating the heat at home, but the first one has to put his spoon aside after a mere 28 grams (about 1 ounce). The next candidate quits, groaning, after 52 grams of pure heat. Keep in mind, this is a devilish mix of the hottest chiles, and even one ounce is quite a challenge. Michael keeps the audience posted on the progress. At half time, two contestants had already emptied two plates, i.e. 200 grams each. But some of the others were catching up fast. Since the Dark Ages, Oberstenfeld hasn't seen so much suffering on their marketplace. And the Winner is... The silent groaning goes on, more plates get emptied and eventually, just two are left eating: Florian Faust and Abbas Smida enter a merciless head-to-head race to the very end. Finally, the twelve minutes are over, and we have a winner. He's wearing a green shirt, imprinted with "Ich gehöre zu den Typen, vor denen uns unsere Eltern immer gewarnt haben" (I'm the kind of guy our parents always warned us about). So who's that guy with the sweaty shirt, with tears in his eyes and chile chunks still sticking to his face, receiving standing ovations from a howling crowd? |
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His name is Florian Faust from Offstein (Rheinland-Pfalz), 22 years old, computer science student and long-time fan of our Vicious Vampire hot sauce. The latter may have helped to get in shape for the contest. Florian consumed the unbelievable amount of 446 grams of hot chiles - almost a full pound! That beats Abbas, who achieved the still astonishing amount of 416 grams. Congratulations, and we wish you clean restrooms along the highway on your way home. Here's all twelve scores:
Congrats to all twelve - we admire them for the guts to compete in this "hot" contest in the eye of the public. As a sponsor, we are already wondering which prizes we are going to provide next year. Some ideas:
If possible at all (many had tears in their eyes), all candidates were happy about the prizes and gimmicks they received when the contest was over. Some promised to use the fiery Pepperworld-sponsored products to practice for next year's contest. Florian will participate again, for sure. Is he going to beat his own record? Will someone else emerge as the next German Chile Eating Champion? We'll find out next summer, in lovely Oberstenfeld! Update: A new Record was set in 2005
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446
grams: Florian Faust (Champion)
