Two Frys: Chile Pepper Festival

Chile Pepper Festival 2017
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Sunday, October 1, 2017

This year, the 25th Annual Chile Pepper Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was on a day with perfect outdoor event weather. It was nice and sunny with mostly clear skies. This is one of our favorite annual events and always a fun one to cover, and our fourth time doing so. We always find great products, meet new people and have good times at the Chile Pepper Festival.

Crowd of people at the Chile Pepper Festival

We made the trek out to Brooklyn for the festival. The event was as always a wonderful one set amongst the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The music featured a great mix of World Music including Mariachi, Indian Bhangra, Brazilian, Cajun, and Afro-Cuban. The bands performed throughout the day on the big stage.

Stage for band performances

The festival layout was well done in the Cherry Blossom Esplanade in a kind of rectangular shape and did not curve around the fountain end of the esplanade like last year. This worked out real well with the Sahadi's Souk tent at the end of the booths. The booths were all busy with many visitors doing tastings and buying products from the vendors. There was a balanced mix of vendors in several Chile related categories such as Hot Sauce, Chile-Chocolates, Condiments, Pickles & Such, and Hi-Scoville Spicy Sweets.

Allen

Sophia

We missed seeing some vendors not there this year, and hope they return in future festivals. We made new connections and tried some wonderful "new to us" products. We purchased some items for our pantry for future cooking and reviewing on the blog, and came home with a few bags of goodies. Things we purchased were hot sauces, BBQ sauce, spicy chocolates, cookies, and a baseball cap from Kitchen Garden Farm Sriracha.

Cool selection of books at the Community Bookstore

Vendors had an impressive amount of locally made products. Many of the vendors this year are local to the NYC area, NJ, Pennsylvania, and a few other east coast areas. Allen enjoyed seeing and tasting products from several of the newer local companies. Allen sampled hot sauces, salsas, spreads, and various spicy condiments. Sophia bought spicy chocolates, and enjoyed a decadent brownie from The Chocolate Room. By mid-day, the booths were very busy and a few had long lines but they went fast.

Allen

This is a really great place to have an event and there is seating via benches in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden grounds when you need to take a rest and then continue on tasting and shopping. Several of the vendors were also selling fresh picked Chile Peppers. We saw a lot of people purchasing fresh peppers from mild to super hot like Ghost and Scorpion Peppers to make sauces perhaps or to spice up their homemade dishes. All the vendors (as always) were very friendly and had a good time explaining their product profiles and heat level to the patrons. It was great to see about 6 or 7 hot sauce companies that were new to the festival vending. Here are the vendors we visited and photographed.

Stuff Sophia bought

Hot Sauce Sorcery

Spicy Samples Feel the Burn!

Black Irish Hot Sauce
Black Irish Hot Sauce had a great booth featuring their line of flask bottled hot sauces. Black Irish were sampling their main sauces Jalapeño Hot Sauce with Tequila Flavors, Habanero Sauce with Spiced Rum, and Black Irish Red Sauce with Irish Whiskey flavors. All the sauces taste great and feature impressive flavor profiles. Black Irish Hot Sauce offer quality based sauces that can accompany different kinds of meats, seafood, veggies, or used as a condiment.

Black Irish Hot Sauce

The Bronx Hot Sauce

The Bronx Hot Sauce from our home borough had a great booth set up and were sampling and selling their signature The Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce - Green (and also in Red) and the newer, Queens 7 Greenmarket Hot Sauce. The peppers used in the sauces are grown in several Bronx Community gardens.

The Bronx Hot Sauce Queens version

The Bronx Hot Sauce

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Hell's Kitchen had a huge lineup this year. We purchased a bottle of the Cinnamon Ghost Punch, and BBQ Sauce, and got a bottle of their Pepper Pastry Sauce made with fresh blueberries, maple syrup and fiery super hot chile peppers. Hell's Kitchen is based in NYC in the West Side of Manhattan and run by Chef Ron Menin. Ron's 6 hot sauces are recommended, versatile, unique and tasty.

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Karma Sauce

Karma Sauce had a very impressive lineup of various and diverse hot sauces and condiments. All Karma Sauces are made with fresh Chile peppers and the flavors reflect that. Karma Sauce has a farm and grows most of their produce for the sauces, especially hot peppers. Most of the healthy ingredients are sourced from within 50 miles of their operation. Karma Sauces are made by hand in the Finger Lake region of New York.

Karma Sauce

Kitchen Garden Farm Sriracha

It was our first time sampling the goods from Kitchen Garden Farm. The 3 Sriracha sauces were really good, hot, and flavorful. Allen was impressed and purchased both a bottle of the Sriracha in a squeeze bottle, and a baseball cap with the company logo. Very fresh and homegrown farm peppers are used in the making of their products. The products are Certified Organic, farmer made and have no preservatives. These handcrafted products are made in Sunderland, MA. They also make two fire roasted salsas. Great stuff!

Kitchen Garden Farm

Pepplish Provisions

I had read about Queens, NY based Pepplish Provisions on Facebook. I was then pleased to read they were a vendor at the Chile Pepper Festival. We went to their booth and were approached by the proprietor Tim Fraczak. Tim was conversing with the hot sauce tasters at his booth. He explained to Allen the flavor profiles of the 3 available sauces. Pepplish Provisions trio of hot sauces will be reviewed in the near future. The sauces sampled had a very good combination of both flavor and heat. The sauces are Blueberry Basil Shallot, Peach Agave Garlic, and Apple Cilantro Lime.

Pepplish Provisions

Queen Majesty Hot Sauce

Queen Majesty's booth was setup with their impressive sauces: Queen Majesty Jalapeño Tequila & Lime Hot Sauce, Queen Majesty Scotch Bonnet & Ginger Hot Sauce, and Queen Majesty Red Habanero & Black Coffee Hot Sauce. They were busy doing tastings and selling their sauces all of which we have purchased and cooked with. We are fans of the quality products they make. Erica AKA Queen Majesty handcrafts her sauces, and they are all natural, 100% vegan, gluten free, do not have sugar or unnatural preservatives.

Queen Majesty Hot Sauce

Shaquandas's Hot Pepper Sauce

Shaquanda's had a well decorated booth showcasing the Hot Pepper Sauce they make. Allen did a tasting and found the sauce very flavorful with just the right amount of heat. The sauce uses fresh Scotch Bonnet Peppers, horseradish, ginger, and onions. Shaquanda's is based in Brooklyn, NY and offer a great tasting local sauce to use both in your cooking and a dipping/condiment sauce.

Shaquanda's Hot Pepper Sauce

Silly Chilly Hot Sauce

Based in NJ and founded and operated by Sufia H, Silly Chilly Hot Sauces are made from peppers locally sourced in NY and NJ. Silly Chilly had their sauces available for tasting and buying. Silly Chilly offer 3 sauces: Serrano and Chipotle, Fresh Mango and Sweet Peppers, and Super Duper Hot Habanero. They also make a tangy condiment called Mango Achar. It was great seeing another local sauce company at this festival.

Silly Chilly Hot Sauce

Torchbearer Sauces

PA based Torchbearer Sauces had a huge booth with all their hot sauces and condiments. We are fans of their products and some of our faves are the "Oh My Garlic" Sauce and the Extra Extra Hot "Zombie Apocalypse" Hot Sauce. Torchbearer are a regular vendor at the Chile Pepper Festival and it was great seeing them again. In addition to the Hot Sauces, be sure to try Torchbearer BBQ Sauces. Torchbearer Sauces are made from a great crew of folks.

Torchbearer Sauces

Here are some other vendors we checked out and enjoyed tastings from:

Alex's Ugly Hot Sauce

Bacchanal Sauce

Redhead Hot Sauce

Combustible Condiments

Combustible Condiments

Brooklyn Delhi

Brooklyn Delhi offer Indian condiments and are best known for Achaar (pronounced ah-char; 'pickled' in Hindi) in a variety of flavors. Achaar is made from vegetables & fruits, aromatic spices and chili peppers and is diverse to compliment many of your favorite dishes.

Brooklyn Delhi

City Saucery

Brooklyn based City Saucery offer products that are handcrafted in small batches. Their All-Purpose Tomato Sauce comes in three flavors: Spicy Nonna's Calabrian, Vegan Nonna's Amatriciana, and Nonnna's Leafy Greens. City Saucery have a nice selection of Preserved Tomatoes and offer a Meatless Salami Spread Tomato 'nduja made with Habanero peppers.

City Saucery

Jacky's Jams & Jellies

Based in New Jersey, Jacky's Jams & Jellies offer a large variety of pepper jams and jellies that are available in all heat levels from mild to spicy.

Jacky's Jams & Jellies

Mama Margarita's Salsa

NYC based Mama Margarita's was sharing plates of chips with the 3 different salsas they make. They are some of the best salsas I have had at the festival both this year and last. They made a good impression on me. The salsas are authentic Mexican, taste very fresh, and are packed with flavor. They are great for topping foods as well as dipping into tortilla chips and are highly recommended.

Mama Margarita's Salsa

NY Chup

Bronx based NY Chup offers one of my favorite condiments. I was thrilled when I saw NY Chup at the Chile Pepper Festival. NY Chup is a small batch company and offer the following kinds of ketchup: Bacon, Cilantro Lime, Spicy Habanero, and Bronx Masala. Get some!

NY Chup

Pierre's Spicy Peanut Butter

Pierre's make different flavors of spicy peanut butter that are palate pleasers. Pierre's also offer almond butter and the peanut butters feature a great blend of flavor and heat. Their products are recommended and it was great meeting Pierre himself and do a tasting.

Pierre's Spicy Peanut Butter

Vital Eats

Vital Eats from Saratoga Springs, NY had a nice selection of sauces, dips, and ketchups at their booth. It was great to meet them and this was their first time at the Chile Pepper Festival. We will be cooking with the Green Sriracha Verde they make called Zombie Blood, and Big Hot Apple/Habanero Apple Hot Sauce. These are healthy sauces and are low sodium, vegan, gluten and soy free, and Non GMO.

Vital Eats

Vita Eats

Vital Eats

Chile Chocolate Debauchery

Chocolate Debauchery

The Chocolate Room
Based in Brookyln, The Chocolate Room were selling their Dark Hot Chocolate, The Classic Hot Cocoa and Spiced Hot Chocolate. They were selling brownies and other fine products. I loved the brownie I bought from them. It was so rich, and decadent.

The Chocolate Room

Hernan Mexican Mole

Hernan were offering samples and selling their Hernan Mole Pipian: A Mexican Classic and Hernan Mole Poblano. Their booth was very busy when I stopped by.

Hernan Mexican Mole

JoMart Chocolates

JoMart Chocolates are always a favorite of mine. This year, I bought their Dark Chocolate Bar. JoMart had many chocolate delights for sale: various chocolate bars, Allstars - pure chocolate stars in different flavors. Many other chocolate themed desserts were available.

JoMart Chocolates

Laurie & Sons

I am a big fan of Laurie & Sons. This year, I purchased their Pepper cookie sandwiches with a spicy chocolate ganache in the center. The cookies came in a pretty box and the spice was just right. Based in East Harlem, Laurie & Sons are known for their toffee products which come in a variety of flavors.

Laurie & Sons

Little Bird Chocolates

Long Island confectioner Little Bird Chocolates offer some really great products. They have Fire Bites Candied Jalapenos covered in Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate, Hot & Sweet Nuts, and Fire Powder - finely ground candied Jalapenos.

Little Bird Chocolates

Raaka Chocolate

Raaka make their chocolate in Red Hook, Brooklyn and offer a diverse line of chocolate products. I bought 3 Raaka Chocolate Bars: Coconut Milk from the Dominican Republic, Hibiscus Cinnamon, and Green Tea Crunch and I loved them all!

Raaka Chocolate

Whimsy & Spice

Founded in Brooklyn, Whimsy & Spice offer cookies, biscotti, marshmallows, brownies, and hot chocolate mixes in Earl Grey, Spice Chile and Classic. Whimsy & Spice combine spice with sweet in their products and I am a big fan of this company. I bought Honey Lavender Shortbread Cookies, and Coconut Five Spice White Chocolate Cookies. Both kinds of cookies had a balanced flavor profile and were delectable.

Whimsy & Spice

Hi-Scoville Sweets

Hi-Scoville Sweets

Bushwick Kitchen
Bushwick Kitchen offer honey, maple syrup and sriracha. Bees Knees Honey is available in Spicy, Meyer Lemon, and Salted. Three Knees Maple in available in Spicy, Gingerbread, and Coffee and Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha is sure to satisfy your spicy taste buds.

Bushwick Kitchen

Mike's Hot Honey

Brooklyn's own Mike's Hot Honey is a Chile pepper based infused honey which is versatile for savory and sweet food and desserts. Mike's Hot Honey is available in 3 sizes: a mini jar, 12 oz. bottle and 24 oz. chef's bottle.

Mike's Hot Honey

There were several ice cream companies to satisfy ice cream aficionados: Culture: An American Yogurt Company, La Newyorkina who also had Mexican brownies and ice cream toppings for sale, and Oddfellow's Ice Cream Co.

Culture: An American Yogurt Company

La Newyorkina Mexican Brownies

Oddfellow's Ice Cream Co.

Piquant Pickles & Such

Piquant Pickles & Such

Rick's Picks
Rick's Picks offer a great selection of pickles and other goodies. Rick's pickle line is offered in tangy, sour, spicy and smoky: The People's Pickle, Classic Sours, Hotties, Smokra. Rick's Mean Beans (Green Beans), Rick's Pha Beets, Rick's Handy Corn, and Rick's With Relish.

Rick's Picks

Zia Green Chile Company

Zia Green Chile Company did a demo on roasting chiles and it was fun to watch. Zia's Hatch Chiles are manufactured in New Mexico. The product line offered is Hatch Red Chile Sweet & Mild, Hatch Green Chile Medium and Hot, and Hatch Chile Pasta with Sfoglini.

Zia Green Chile Company

Zia Green Chile Company, doing a demonstration

Zia Green Chile Company

For Horseradish lovers, there were a number of selections by Holy Schmitt's Homemade Horseradish. Kimchi fans got their fix with Mama O's Premium Kimchi and Mother In Law's Kimchi.

Holy Schmitt's Homemade Horseradish

7 Hot Flavors available for Holy Schmitt's Homemade Horseradish

Mama O's Premium Kimchi

Mother In Law's Kimchi

North Brooklyn Farms had several vegetables and peppers for sale as well as lovely tote bags.

North Brooklyn Farms

Brooklyn based Sahadi's Souk had the same large tent area as last year offering a fine selection of spices, spicy candy, nuts, spreads, granola, and other snacks.