Blog entries

First Show Report

Dave DeWitt — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:56:31 +0100

The Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show is so all-encompassing and so overwhelming to us that it's hard to know where to begin a report like this. Just to give you an idea, 94-Rock gave away 14,000 containers of Blue Bell ice cream as a cool-down to attendees! The live Read More...

Dave Made a "Hero of Sweden

Dave DeWitt — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:45:59 +0100

Apparently because of all my work over the years on chile peppers, the Swedish government has made me a "Hero of Sweden." You can watch an inspiring video of the announcement here.

Chile Pepper iPhone Apps

Dave DeWitt — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:33:45 +0100

Our friend Scott Roberts reviews the latest chile pepper iPhone apps, here.

(Nice hair, Scott!)

James of SpicyRV.com Beats the Four Horsemen Burger Challenge

Dave DeWitt — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:18:23 +0100

It's "Fiery Foods Show or Bust" as James Beck and his cohorts drive the Spicy RV from Houston to Albuquerque. Spicy RV’s first Friday night we descended upon Chunky’s Burgers in San Antonio, Texas. It would be safe to say Chunky’s was catapulted to national faRead More...

Show Shirts Feature Wilbur (Scoville, That Is)

Dave DeWitt — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:17:32 +0100

We are celebrating the 98th anniversary of the invention of the Scoville Heat Scale in our show shirts this year. These are the backs of the shirts. TheRead More...

Now Diabetics can Slather on the Sauce!

Lois Manno — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:42:38 +0100

Thanks to Jamie Faitelson, a.k.a. Chef Hymie Grandé, diabetics now can choose from a trio of barbecue sauces with no high fructose corn syrup or processed sugars. The sauces are vegan friendly and all natural. It is also the first BBQ sauce to carry the AmericaRead More...

HPP at Garden Fresh Gourmet

Dave DeWitt — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:20:03 +0100

I have just returned from a mind-boggling visit to Garden Fresh Gourmet's processing plants in Ferndale, Michigan. The image above is the programming screen for their ultra-high tech processor called HPP, or High Pressure Processing. In order to increase the shelf of their refrigerated fresRead More...

El Pinto on "Food Tech" on History Channel

Dave DeWitt — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:40:54 +0100

Food Tech
Episode: Mexican

Thursday, February 11 09:00 PM

Friday, February 12 01:00 AM

Thursday, February 18 08:00 PM

Friday, February 19 12:00 AM

With Americans eating more than 85 billion tortillas a year, MRead More...

BirthDave Card Sets Off Verbal Tsunami

Dave DeWitt — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:40:31 +0100

First, Harald Zoschke in Germany sent me the hilarious card at the left after asking me to model the 'Bhut Jolokia' tie. This imagery caused a ruckus among my female friends, ranging from "OMG! That is one for the archives!" (Martha "Body Bueno" Read More...

Rebuilding Haiti One Pepper at a Time

Dave DeWitt — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:22:46 +0100

Editor's Note: Our company, Sunbelt Shows, Inc. is joining forces with Bel Soley, Inc. to assist in rebuilding the Haitian economy. I am urging my readers to contact Brian and render any assistance to this project that you can.

Brian Read More...

Rick Browne's New Book Project

Dave DeWitt — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:10:07 +0100

My good friend, Rick Browne of "Barbecue America" on PBS, has launched a new project entitled A Century of Restaurants and because he has to travel to 100-year-old (and older!) restaurants all over the country and photograph them, he needs help funding the project. He has found a publisher anRead More...

R.I.P. Mike Cates

Dave DeWitt — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:17:11 +0100

<At left, Mike ferries Renate Zoschke
around on his cooler train.

We have just learned of the passing of Mike Cates, which is another blow to Hot Shots, the company that lost their leader, Dave Lutes, late last year. MRead More...

Emily DeWitt Appointed Food Editor

Dave DeWitt — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0100

I'm pleased and proud to announce that Emily DeWitt, who is my brother Rick's daughter, has been appointed as food editor of the SuperSite and ScovieAwards.com She is only our third food editor, following Nancy Gerlach, who retiredRead More...

I am Author of the Day on Cookstr.com

Dave DeWitt — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:51:45 +0100

I am pleased to be Author of the Day on Cookstr on January 10. It's nice to get a little recognition every now and then! Katie Workman, the editor-in-chief of the site, describes it this way: "Cookstr.com is a new cooking site dedicated to providing our useRead More...

European Heat

Dave DeWitt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:51:18 +0100

We are busy planning our May trip to Italy and England to promote The Complete Chile Pepper Book, which makes me think about how much both of those countries have heated up chile-wise in the past two decades. Chile pepper growing, both commercially and as a hobby, Read More...

'Bhut Jolokia' Top Selling Chile Bedding Plant

Dave DeWitt — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:35:29 +0100

I spoke over the weekend with Janie Lamson, owner of Cross Country Nurseries and chileplants.com, the largest seller of chile bedding plants with 500 varieties. She told me about her best-selling varieties from last year, and of them are in the species Capsicum chinense, which has the hottest varieties in the world. She also toldRead More...

2009: The Food Year in Review

Dave DeWitt — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:37:53 +0100

With a tip of the hat to Dave Barry...

January: The Food Police declare that food is carcinogenic and urge people to eat cigarettes.
February: Valentine's Day candies are banned by Iran and North Korea.
March: “Chile” is the most tweeted wRead More...

Super-Spicy Cocktails by Alexis Korman

Dave DeWitt — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:21:31 +0100

Here in New York, the temperature has taken a nosedive for the winter, which makes me wonder, is that why I'm seeing so many scorching hot cocktails around town these days? As a major hub of mixology, I’ve noticed that Manhattan’s finest bRead More...

Habanero Nectar, Part 1

Dave DeWitt — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:24:47 +0100

My friend Marco del Freo, who lives in northern Italy, is embarking on a fascinating adventure. Marco, who owns vineyards, a winery, and olive trees, also grows chile peppers (peperoncini in Italy) and he is now making a habanero-infusRead More...

Distasteful Solutions to Gnawing Problems

Lois Manno — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:59:29 +0100

You gotta love a company that names its most popular product Repela.TM According the the company’s website, this is “a combination of denatonium benzoate and natural capsaicin. Read More...