The heat is on!
SIXTY-degree, damp days got you down? Add some sizzle to your Saturday by heading to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s 24th annual Chile Pepper Festival to celebrate all things capsicum. Chili peppers will take center stage as they tantalize — or torture, depending on your stamina — your taste buds.
Gardener Gregory Seaton will kick things off with a “Chile Chat” at 10:30 a.m. Seaton says that a big part of the talk is dispelling myths city dwellers may hold about the plant.
“People assume growing their own is out of the question,” he says. “But all you really need is a southern-facing window box. Chili pepper plants love sun, so as long as you have that, there are plenty of plant varieties you can grow on your own.”
Kids will be able to plant and pot their very own chili peppers in the “Hot Chiles for Cool Kids” attraction at the Discovery Garden Pavilion from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fiery festival also includes music from six sizzling performers, including Louisiana band the Lost Bayou Ramblers, Afro-Caribbean pop singer Aurelio, and — to make sure to hammer home the heat theme — firebreathing emcees Todd Robbins and Stephen Ringold. But for many chili aficionados, the highlight will be a lawnside stroll through 62 artisanal vendors hawking their hottest wares.
“It used to be that people would see ‘chili pepper’ and assume that meant ‘burn your face off,’” says Sara Meyer, co-owner of Long Island’s Little Bird chocolates, which specializes in jalapeño-infused treats.
“But that isn’t the case,” adds Meyer. “I think more and more people realize that these [chili pepper] spices can add depth to any recipe.”
Of course, part of the fun of any chili fest is seeing if you can stand the heat. So sweat your way through the samples on offer at each table, including the spicy Thai snack bites from Apinya Thai Food Co., locally grown chilies from North Brooklyn Farms, hot sauce from Redhead Hot Sauce, and from Little Bird, chocolate-covered candied jalapeños.
This may be the only festival in the world where success is measured in tears.