I ain’t afraid of no ghost pepper
On Tuesday, April 5th, the NYC Hot Sauce Expo made its subtle debut in the East Village. Steve Seabury and Jimmy Carbone welcomed industry insiders, media experts, and hot sauce lovers to sit in on the Screaming Mi Mi judging panel that happened at Jimmy’s No. 43. The event started off with guests of the event being invited to try the various hot sauces being presented at the demo. With hot sauces sitting on a table, guests were able to take tasting spoons or tortilla chips and try out some of the sauces available. However, you have to be careful trying each hot sauce because some of them are infused with the fires of hell. The Hot Sauce Expo’s motto is ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost pepper.’ But let’s be clear, ghost pepper is a pepper that deserves to be feared.
When the judging portion of the night came around, guests were invited to a backroom of the bar. With each of the labels obscured, judges rated all entries based on category and specific criteria, one of which being how hot the sauce is. If you were to look around this room of judges, you would see nearly everyone sweating at some point of time. This judging is not for the faint of heart. However, to ease the pain of the hot sauce, some delicious food such as spring rolls, sandwiches, and chicken were passed around along with some of the tastiest on tap beer from Jimmy’s No. 43.
The NYC Hot Sauce Expo takes place at the Greenpoint Expo Center on April 23rd and 24th. This year’s expo will feature 4 dozen premier hot sauces makers from around the world. Some of the events at this expo include a guacamole eating contest, bloody mary and margarita mix downs, a Carolina reaper pepper eating contest, and many more. Get you tickets as soon as possible.
