Red, Uhh Purple, Hot Chili Peppers

It was raining cats and dogs but we were determined to be at the hottest Fall event of the year in Brooklyn. What could be hotter than The Annual Chili Pepper Festival at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden? Nothing I tell you, and nothing could keep a hot pepper aficionado away their beloved treat, especially me. I love peppers, but not too hot, medium spicy is good enough for me and this years event didn't disappoint.

They had hot smoking bands with names like Paprika, Red Baraat, Pistolera, Lost Bayou Ramblers and Nepo Soteri & Asante performing on The Cherry Esplanade Stage. Yes, we were dancing in the rain. There were vendors under canopies handing out samples of hot sauce, pickles, chutney and one vendor handing out sugar concoctions, some of which were in the shape of a chili pepper and I"ll call incredible edible art. You could watch chefs prepare fabulous dishes, some cooking in clay pots and you could get yourself inked at The Chili Pepper Tattoo Parlor. At the gift shops they had T shirts, pepper plants, posters, books and other "chili" items for sale. Needless to say my shopping bag was full of "hot" stuff.

I enjoyed every wet rainy bit of it but the best part was when I got to ask the real live Chili Pepper Lady some questions about the purple pot of peppers I purchased. Whew! say that fast five times. Yes it is ornamental but contrary to popular belief it is not poisonous, pungent but quite edible. Yes, it is rather hot. But if I must have a bite of it and find my tongue is on fire, my eyes popping out and sweat pouring from my face, there is a remedy. No, not fanning my mouth, or drinking something sweet, or eating bread or drinking tomato juice. We all know that drinking water seems to make it worse, so enough now, what can I do? Well, scientific research points to drinking milk, yes milk. They say that milk and milk based products contains the protein casein which unbinds the capsaicin (pepper) from the nerve receptors on the taste buds. So, go much away but make sure you have a glass of "hot" chocolate milk to cool down the fire. On second thought, I think I'll have a glass of regular milk or two on hand just to be on the safe side.