Pickle-eating contest, mascot race planned Saturday

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By William Holloman
Staff Writer

Folks in these parts are known for their love of pickles and can eat a bunch of them in one sitting. Now, it is time to see who can eat the most at the table.

The inaugural pickle eating contest is scheduled to be held this weekend at the 31st annual North Carolina Pickle Festival, at noon on Saturday at the corner of Center and James Streets.

Festival co-chair Julie Beck said there have been requests in the past for the pickle eating contest, and this year appears to be the time to “get it on.” Though it is not a professional eating event, the target to the teeth will be, of course, Mount Olive whole Kosher Dills.

Officials say contestants will be allowed five minutes to down their filled bowls.

There are event limitations. The field will be limited to 12 contestants: six men and six women, age 18 or more. Ms. Beck said a field of 10 will be accepted in advance of April 29, and contestants will enter on a first-come, first-served basis by calling the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce at 919-658-3113, or by emailing president@mountolivechamber.com. Ms. Beck said two spots will be held open until the day of the event, and if there are more than one male or one female expressing an interest, there will be a random drawing.

In addition to bragging rights, the winner in each category receives a $30 first prize.

“It ought to be a lot of fun, and certainly creates a public event that focuses on our festival’s claim to fame. It is going to be dill-licious,” said Ms. Beck.

Well-known mascots from a variety of organizations are gearing up for another new big attraction scheduled for the 31st annual North Carolina Pickle Festival this weekend: a mascot race set to kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, also at the corner of James and Center Streets.

Headlining the competition is the always popular Ollie Q. Cumber. Don’t forget Mr. Pig; he will be there too. The University of Mount Olive is entering its mascot, the Trojan. Other participants include the Subway Man, Texas Roadhouse, Chick-Fil-A Cow and Baby Cow, Wilson Tob, Time Out Teddy from the local Exchange Club, Ronald McDonald, Ditto Dog, and Liberty Tax.

Don’t forget to come out for the event at 2 p.m. this Sat. at James and Center Streets.

Perfect pepper for picky palates produced by plant professors

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The latest plant variety from Rutgers researchers is the Pumpkin Habanero. (Photo by Cameron Bowman)

By Kathleen O’Brien | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter

For anyone ready to stick a toe into the hotter end of the pepper pool, Rutgers plant researchers have come up with a mild new habanero.

The “pumpkin habanero,” which gets its name from its appearance, not its taste, is hotter than the hottest jalapeno, yet mild in comparison to most of the fiery habaneros, said Albert Ayeni, a professor in the Department of Plant Biology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, who oversees the university’s exotic pepper research.

The goal of developing a new pepper came about when researchers realized Indian, Latino and Chinese ethnic groups all had cuisines that make ample use of peppers.

The pumpkin habanero is the first new plant variety released through Rutgers exotic pepper breeding program, which was formed to create new products New Jersey farmers could grow to appeal to the state’s growing ethnic communities.

The pumpkin pepper was developed relatively quickly – six years – compared to other plants that take longer to reproduce.

Any home garden where tomatoes or eggplants thrive will probably be fertile ground for the pumpkin pepper. Seeds and seedlings will be available at the upcoming Rutgers Day festivities April 29th at the New Brunswick campus.

“If you can grow a tomato, if you can grow you can grow this pepper,” Ayeni said. The plant matures in the fall. Out in the field, he said, it looks just like a miniature pumpkin.

The newest breed of pepper has the added attraction of giving chefs an easy way to moderate its heat: While the seeds and stem structure are extremely hot, the skin and pulp are quite mild.

Be forewarned however, that “mild” is a relative word when it comes to peppers.

On the Scoville scale – designed to measure spiciness – jalapenos typically fall in the range of 3,000 to 5,000 heat units, while habaneros are exponentially hotter, falling in the 30,000 to 350,000 range.

The pumpkin pepper has a Scoville measurement of 30,000 to 50,000 units, putting it in the less fiery end of that habanero range, Ayeni said.

“For those that know about habaneros, they will say this one is very mild,” he said.”If you want to start developing a taste for spice, this is the pepper we would recommend.”

A limited number of seedlings will be available at the Master Garderner plant sale, held during the 9th annual Rutgers Day events at the farm area of the Cook/Douglass campus.

Kathleen O’Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

This young chef is trying to make Ashkenazi food cool

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By Ben Sales   –   Jewish Telegraphic Agency

The Pickle Platter at Aviv included pickled cucumbers, pickled asparagus tips, beet-pickled eggs, olive tapenade, citrus-carrot horseradish, Tam Tams and matzah. (Aleya Cydney Photography)

CHICAGO (JTA) — The platter, served during Passover, contained a green, a bitter herb, an egg and matzah. But it was no seder plate.

Instead, it was the appetizer served during a six-course prix fixe meal at Aviv, a pop-up, kosher-for-Passover restaurant housed for one night at Rodfei Zedek, a Conservative synagogue in the Hyde Park neighborhood on this city’s South Side.

The course, a pickle platter, featured pickled cucumbers, pickled asparagus tips and beet-pickled eggs, along with olive tapenade, citrus-carrot horseradish and — de rigueur for a Passover meal — Tam Tam crackers with everything topping. The first course also came with a soft gluten-free matzah that resembled a tea cracker and, as guests noted approvingly, didn’t really taste like matzah.

Aviv had taken over what was usually the synagogue social hall, with guests seated at long tables covered with disposable white table cloths. The courses, served on biodegradable dishes, included a shaved Brussels sprouts salad with lemon-ginger dressing and micro-herbs, as well as whole-roasted spiced cauliflower with seared haloumi cheese, parsley gremolata and marinated Fresno chilies.

The pop-up restaurant was the latest creation of Wandering Foods Productions, a kosher food caterer that aims to create kosher fine dining experiences that fuse traditional Jewish recipes with other cuisines. Wandering Foods is the brainchild of Jonathan Posner, a lanky, 26-year-old rabbinical student with a baritone voice and five years of experience working in upscale Chicago restaurants.

“How to rethink what Passover is like and what it means to eat on Passover” is how Posner, dressed in a black T-shirt with a pinstriped apron, described Aviv as he welcomed 35 people to the first of two sold-out seatings on April 13, the holiday’s fourth night, for $54 a head. “This is a meal and a pop-up restaurant that celebrates spring. The food will be green, the food will be bright and it will be delicious.”

While success stories like Michael Solomonov and Einat Admony may have made Israeli food all the rage in the U.S., Wandering Foods is one of several recent enterprises that are aiming to make Ashkenazi food hip. There’s the Gefilteria, which has resurrected traditional recipes for gefilte fish, horseradish and borscht with an emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients. There’s the Wandering Chew, which creates artisanal Montreal-style Jewish food and conducts culinary walking tours of Mile End, the Canadian city’s Jewish neighborhood, complete with tastings of bagels and smoked meat. Zak Stern, aka Zak the Baker, a kosher deli owner in an artsy Miami neighborhood, makes his sandwiches with fresh-baked sourdough bread.

Despite the accolades garnered by these food entrepreneurs, Posner still feels that Ashkenazi foods like brisket and kugel get short shrift. He asks why other international cuisines, from Italian pasta to Chinese stir-fry, have become common in a home cook’s repertoire, but traditional American Jewish food — even among American Jews — is generally relegated to Rosh Hashanah and Passover, if at all.

“The base for most Jews in America is that Jewish food at best is bland, except the one or two things that someone does really well, that someone does once a year,” Posner said. “Jewish food is really holiday food and doesn’t exist in the daily kitchen of most American Jews. In what ways can Jewish food have a cuisine the way we have French cuisine or Italian cuisine?”

According to Liz Alpern, the Gefilteria’s co-founder, she and other Jewish foodies are merging their generation’s culinary sensibilities with Jewish culture. Just like previous generations cared about low-fat diets, these young Jewish chefs are buying their ingredients at farmers’ markets, avoiding processed foods and making sure their dishes have color.

“A lot of people we knew really loved cooking locally sourced, high-quality meat, but when it came to Jewish cooking, like when it came to making a brisket, they didn’t care, really,” Alpern said. “The ways this is different is it’s a coming together of our values as a generation around food, and our love of Jewish cooking and authenticity and tradition.”

Plus, tasty food can be an accessible entry point for many into other modes of Jewish life. More events like this, Posner said, could draw young Jews to large synagogues that may fail to attract them to Shabbat services. David Minkus, rabbi of Rodfei Zedek, which hosted the Passover pop-up, agreed that a synagogue can, for various reasons, be the right place for a Jewish culinary event.

“I thought it was an opportunity to reshape the way people think about having kosher food, how they think about eating in a synagogue,” he said of Aviv. “I didn’t understand why synagogues didn’t use their kitchens, which are usually large, industrial and kosher, to do something beyond serving kugel on Saturday afternoon.”

Posner was raised in an observant Jewish family and was trained as a chef in downtown Chicago’s fancy restaurants. As he returned to Jewish observance as an adult, he knew that working Friday and Saturday nights — the busiest times for restaurants — would prevent him from keeping the Sabbath. So he left the restaurant scene and two years ago founded Wandering Foods. Last year he entered rabbinical school at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

In addition to elevating the quality of Ashkenazi recipes, Posner aims to fuse them with other cuisines, from Sephardi dishes to other American and global culinary traditions. The matzah ball soup, for example, included shiitake mushrooms; for dessert, the flourless chocolate cake was accompanied by green tea ice cream and espresso.

“It’s not just a Sephardic-Ashkenazic mashup,” said Posner, who will also be hosting a regular supper club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan beginning in May. “It’s taking specific items, specific techniques, specific ingredients, understanding them in their own contexts and then making something that’s greater than the sum of its parts.”

Posner isn’t sure what he’s going to do after rabbinical school or how long he can sustain Wandering Foods with a full course load. But he said working in a kitchen and behind a pulpit aren’t all that different. In both cases, he said, Posner feels he’s leading “a life in service.”

“People seek out rabbis for a lot of the reasons they go to restaurants,” he said. “They go for the most momentous occasions of their lives. People want experiences. People want to feel cared for.”

Eat these six foods to add years to your life

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Dreamstime/Francesco Alessi
Tribune News Service – Beans are packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other goodies that benefit you.

You are what you eat, no doubt about it.

An article in the upcoming issue of Consumer Reports on Health says that eating six foods can add both life to your years and years to your life.

How?

By decreasing inflammation, improving gut bacteria and altering the free-radical damage that alters cell functioning. What’s more, the right food can affect some serious conditions that often worsen with age, such as stroke, hypertension, heart disease, cognitive decline and type 2 diabetes.

And don’t think you have to give up certain favorites to live to a ripe old age. Chocolate is one of the six anti-aging powerhouses.

Here’s the list:

Beans: They’re packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other goodies that benefit you. They also help lower levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides.

Chocolate: It doesn’t only taste good, but it can be good for you in limited quantities, especially dark chocolate that has more flavonoids and less sugar than milk chocolate. Flavonoids seem to improve blood-vessel function, which can lower blood pressure and clotting. But, remember, chocolate also contains lots of sugar and saturated fat, not to mention calories.

Hot peppers: They’re good for your heart — if you can tolerate the heat in your mouth. Capsaicin found in peppers improves blood flow and protects against bacteria that have been linked with inflammation and diseases. It also pumps up your metabolism. Green and red chilies and cayenne, jalapeño and tabasco peppers all contain high levels of capsaicin.

Fish: It’s high in inflammation-fighting omega-3 fatty acids, which seem to help protect the heart and brain. It’s best to eat 8 ounces a week of sustainably farmed or wild-caught low-mercury fish, such as Atlantic mackerel, Pacific sardines, freshwater (farmed) coho salmon and wild-caught salmon, and sablefish (black cod) from Alaska.

Nuts: These are high in monounsaturated fat content, which helps lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Though nuts are high in calories, with about 160 to 200 calories per ounce, frequent nut eaters weighed less than those who abstained, according to studies.

Whole grains: Reduce your risk of cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, infectious disease and respiratory problems. One or two daily servings are enough to have a benefit. Refined carbs like white bread and white rice do not count.

Humane Society of the TC Pet of the Week: Jalapeno

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Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, YourNews contributor

Jalapeno the Hamster
(Photo: HSTC)

PALM CITY — Here at HSTC we adopt out more than just dogs, cats, and rabbits!

Meet Jalapeno the spicy robo hamster. He views his role in a new home as purely ornamental and not very “hands-on.” He is not a snuggly hamster and does not appreciate human interaction. Jalapeno is, however, extremely adorable and performs many hamster antics for his owner’s viewing pleasure.

This pet and many more are available for adoption through the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. Locations to adopt are the HSTC Main Shelter at 4100 S.W. Leighton Farm Ave. in Palm City, the HSTC Thrift Store Central at 2585 S.E. Federal Highway in Stuart, and the HSTC Thrift Store North at 1099 N.W. 21st St. in Stuart. Normal adoption hours are Mondays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. View the pets currently available for adoption at www.hstc1.org. Give us a call at 772-223-8822 if you have any questions.

HOLY JALAPENOS! Inaugural 901 Popper Throwdown turns up heat

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, USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Seth Agranov loves to fill a jalapeno pepper with just about anything (one of his favorite is a Jack Pirtle’s steak sandwich), wrap it in bacon and throw it on the grill. Then take a picture of it, post it on Facebook and do a little chest thumping about how it turned out.

“I always post my pictures,” Agranov said. “Then a friend started posting his pictures, and it became sort of a ‘my popper is bigger than your popper’ kind of thing.”

So they decided to invite a few folks over and have a culinary cage fight.

“We thought we’d just do it in one of our backyards, and then I realized my wife wouldn’t want people running through the house, coming in to use the restroom or what not, and he said the same thing,” Agranov said.

The sky is the limit when it comes to stuffing jalapeno peppers. (Photo: Photo courtesy Best Memphis Burger)

Luckily, Agranov knows a thing or two about festivals — he’s the co-founder and lead organizer of Best Memphis Burger Festival — and was able to pull one together with his BMBF buddies. They wanted a small venue with beer, so they ended up at High Cotton Brewing Co., where they’re hosting the inaugural 901 Popper Throwdown from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday.

To keep it all above-board, Agranov isn’t competing, though the Best Memphis Burger tent will be at the festival, giving away samples of burgers, hot dogs and poppers, all for donations that will go to the Best Memphis Burger Festival beneficiary, Memphis Paws.

“There’s no admission fee, so the donations and sales of T-shirts and so on are how we’ll make money,” he said.

Brandie Elliott is a member of Pirates of the Grillibbean, the team that won grand champion of the 2014 BMBF. She and her team have been furiously testing popper recipes and will pick the best two for the judges and cook up a few more to have on hand for folks to try.

“That’s our favorite part of any festival,” she said. “We love feeding people at the tent and raising money.”

No one is giving away their secrets — this is a competition, after all — but Elliott said it’s a good bet that at least one of their poppers will be sweet.

Bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. (Photo: Photo courtesy Best Memphis Burger)

“We have tried everything,” she said. “We’ve stuffed them with everything from ribs to sweet things, and we like the dessert poppers.”

But she admits poppers are not her area of expertise.

“We’re stepping out of the box a little because this is not exactly one of our staples,” she said.

Still, chances are she’s better prepared than her competitor Chris Taylor of MemPops.

“Eh, I have four or five working ideas right now,” he said. “We’ll play around with them on Friday and pick the two we like the best. I can tell you that whatever we end up with, we’re going with fried.

“I entered because I love a good cooking contest, like having a few beers and hanging out with my friends and being outside on what is going to be a beautiful day.”

The name of his team? MemPoppers, of course. The MemPops Airstream will be there to help block off the designated area and to sell its cold treats.

“We’ll even come up with a specialty MemPop, probably a jalepeno-pineapple,” he said.

But just because he doesn’t have a specific recipe ready doesn’t mean that Taylor isn’t ready. He was part of a team that won twice at the Southern Hot Wing Festival.

Agranov wants to keep the competitors to a reasonable number and just hit 15 with the recent addition of Jimmy Sinh, better known as Sushi Jimmi. He’s not taking any more teams, but if you’re just itching to compete, you can always enter the japaleno pepper eating contest. There are 12 gallons of pickled jalapenos, courtesy of La Michoacana, waiting on folks with asbestos tongues and an iron gut.

It’s $10 to enter (or $12.50 if you want to go to reserve your spot online). The prize is $100 — and a year of bragging rights.

Grilled Bacon-wrapped Poppers

Ingredients

6 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

12 slices bacon

Directions

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Spread cream cheese to fill jalapeno halves. Wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Place on the grill, and cook until bacon is crispy.

Source: allrecipes.com

Roasted Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients

12 large jalapeno peppers

2 ounces feta cheese

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 ounces shredded smoked pepper Jack cheese, or other hot pepper cheese, or extra-sharp Cheddar

A small handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2 tablespoons grated onion

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut 1/3 of each pepper off lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place on a baking sheet. If peppers do not sit flat on the baking sheet, slice a thin piece off the bottom of the pepper so it will not roll around.

Mash the feta, cream cheese, shredded cheese, cilantro, and onion together and stuff the peppers with the mixture. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is brown at the edges and bubbly.

Source: foodnetwork.com

Jalepeno Poppers

Ingredients

12 fresh jalapeños

3 ounces coarsely grated Cheddar (1 cup)

3 ounces coarsely grated Monterey Jack (1 cup)

1 teaspoon hot sauce

3 large eggs

1 cup plain fine dry bread crumbs

2 teaspoons dried oregano

About 4 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Cut a lengthwise slit from stem to bottom of each pepper. Make a crosswise incision at stem end, forming a T. Pry open enough to hold back long cuts (to expose ribs and seeds), then devein and seed using tip of a paring knife and kitchen shears.

Stir together cheeses, hot sauce, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Fill chiles with cheese mixture, pressing seams closed after filling, so that cheese is compacted and pepper retains its shape.

Lightly beat eggs in a small shallow bowl. Stir together bread crumbs, oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.

Dip peppers in egg, letting excess drip off, then coat with bread crumbs, transferring to a work surface. Repeat coating with egg and crumbs to form a second layer.

Heat 2 inches oil to 325 degrees in a medium saucepan. Fry peppers in 3 batches, stirring occasionally, until golden brown all over, 5 to 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to several layers of paper towels to drain. Return oil to temperature between batches.

Source: epicurious.com

901 Popper Throwdown

1-6 p.m. Saturday, March 25, at High Cotton Brewing Co. 598 Monroe. Free admission. 901popperthrowdown.com

What a dill! Pickle Parade draws thousands to downtown Mansfield

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BY NICHOLAS SAKELARIS   –   Special to the Star-Telegam

Pickles were plentiful during Saturday’s Pickle Parade & Palooza in Mansfield. Joyce Marshall jlmarshall@star-telegram.com

MANSFIELD

The spring festival season got off to a green start Saturday with the St. Paddy’s Pickle Parade & Palooza in downtown Mansfield.

There were Elvis-wannabes on minibikes, a parade of pets and live music galore, including from Grammy-award winners Asleep at the Wheel.

But mostly there were pickles: Pickle queens, people dressed as pickles, pickle balloons and giant (fake) pickles.

The sixth annual event drew thousands of visitors to a downtown that’s just started rediscovering itself in the last few years. More local businesses are opening shop and thriving as Mansfield revitalizes Main Street.

Organizers anticipated 35,000 to 45,000 visitors throughout the course of the day-long event.

This year’s theme, “Need more Kowbell,” focused on Mansfield’s long-gone Kowbell Rodeo & Arena, which had weekly rodeo events for decades before being torn down in 2004.

Allison Gilmore sat along Main Street to watch the parade with her parents. Her husband, owner of the Level 5 Design Group, rode on the float representing LOT Downtown, a Mansfield music venue that Level 5 designed and built. The LOT has been an integral part of downtown’s revitalization.

“We’ve been coming about four years,” said Gilmore, a Mansfield resident. “It supports the town. It’s a fun family gathering.”

The parade had nearly 100 floats, including one representing Best Maid Pickles, the inspiration for Mansfield becoming the official Pickle Capital of Texas.

Emily Christy, marketing manager for Best Maid Pickles, and her team had a steady line of people coming to buy pickles from their booth. For another dollar, customers could earn a chance to spin the wheel to win more cool pickle swag (who knew?). Proceeds from the spin went to the North Texas Make a Wish Foundation.

“It’s been a real treat. We’ve been part of Mansfield since 1926,” Christy said. “We love coming out to see all these crazy pickle people.”

Jessie Wente, director of development for Make a Wish North Texas, said this is the second year they’ve partnered with Best Maid Pickles at the festival.

“There’s actually a wish kid riding in the pickle car. His wish is to go to Disney World.” Wente said. “They’re donating money for a good cause.”

CHICAGO HOT DOG INFUSED WHISKEY NOW EXISTS

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Produced by / @nickolaushines   –   Vinepair

Flavor infused alcohol has been all the rage for years now. Just look at what’s been done to the vodka market — no matter how much people make fun of it, moreflavors keep on coming out. Now, it’s whiskey’s turn for a disgusting flavor punch: Chicago hot dog infused whiskey.

The contraption was made by Adam Seger, the executive bartender for iPic Theaters (yes, that iPic, the one that is hoping cocktails will save the theater industry). Bon Appétit writer Alyse Whitney described her first impression of hearing about the drink as thinking it sounded like “meat tea,” or, “the dirty water form the bottom of a hot dog cart.”

Apparently that’s not what it is. Chicago dog infused whiskey is composed of the following: Templeton Rye, boiled Vienna Beef hot dogs, Colman’s mustard powder, raw white onion, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle spears, sliced tomatoes, sport peppers, celery salt, and poppy seeds (for the bun). Everything is put into a Japanese tea and coffee maker, runs it through for about three minutes, and violà: Chicago-dog whiskey.

The whiskey turns a bright, unhealthy, sweet pickle relish green. According to Whitney, it tastes like mustard, celery salt, pickle, and a little bit of sweet tomato. Thankfully, there is no meat flavor. Think specialty pickleback using the pickle juice from that sketchy guy who makes homemade pickles in the basement.

Maybe this is a lesson in not judging a drink by it’s name. Or maybe it’s an abomination. Either way, you can’t say that you don’t want to try it (or watch someone else try it).

What’s the Story? Exploring the peppermint stick and pickle snack from the Chicago South Side

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By Nick Kindelsperger   –   Contact Reporter   –   Chicago Tribune

To make the pickle and peppermint stick snack, take a chomp of (or slice) one end of the pickle, stab the middle with the peppermint stick until it goes almost all the way to the bottom, and then eat. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

John T. Edge, food historian and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, wrote in an email that he believes pickles and peppermint sticks are “somewhat common in the Mississippi Delta, which was the fount for much Chicago immigration.” Though he’s “not sure this transfer is explicitly Delta to Chicago,” he said it was definitely spread through the African-American community.

I quickly found that the snack dates to at least 1983. That’s when Vernon Garrett, an obscure blues musician, recorded a raunchy song called “Dill Pickle & Peppermint Stick” for ICA Recording Group. From what little I could find about Garrett, he was born in Omaha, Neb., in 1933, and moved to California later. I tried valiantly to track him down, contacting various blues enthusiasts, but I couldn’t even confirm whether he was still living or not.

Eventually, I was able to confirm that the history of the peppermint-stick pickle stretches back even further. Adrian Miller, a food historian and author of “Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time,” believes the combo dates to at least 1940. “I spoke to a lot of elderly people, and they said they did that as a kid,” he said. “I can’t tell you if it was around earlier than that.”

Miller actually ran across the combo while researching Kool-Aid pickles, which are made by soaking pickles in Kool-Aid mix. He was quick to add that peppermint sticks are just the beginning of the pickle and candy combo. You can use Jolly Ranchers or FireBalls, he says — “basically any candy.”

As John T. Edge put it, “From Kool-Aid pickles to peppermint-stick pickles, these foods are great examples of youthful ingenuity and experimentation.”

This story is the first in our “What’s the Story?” series, in which we answer your biggest questions about Chicago food and drink. Have a question? Ask it in the “What’s the Story?” box below.

nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @nickdk

The Association of Hot Red Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality: A Large Population-Based Cohort Study

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Abstract

The evidence base for the health effects of spice consumption is insufficient, with only one large population-based study and no reports from Europe or North America. Our objective was to analyze the association between consumption of hot red chili peppers and mortality, using a population-based prospective cohort from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) III, a representative sample of US non-institutionalized adults, in which participants were surveyed from 1988 to 1994. The frequency of hot red chili pepper consumption was measured in 16,179 participants at least 18 years of age. Total and cause-specific mortality were the main outcome measures. During 273,877 person-years of follow-up (median 18.9 years), a total of 4,946 deaths were observed. Total mortality for participants who consumed hot red chili peppers was 21.6% compared to 33.6% for those who did not (absolute risk reduction of 12%; relative risk of 0.64). Adjusted for demographic, lifestyle, and clinical characteristics, the hazard ratio was 0.87 (P = 0.01; 95% Confidence Interval 0.77, 0.97). Consumption of hot red chili peppers was associated with a 13% reduction in the instantaneous hazard of death. Similar, but statistically non-significant trends were seen for deaths from vascular disease, but not from other causes. In this large population-based prospective study, the consumption of hot red chili pepper was associated with reduced mortality. Hot red chili peppers may be a beneficial component of the diet.

Citation: Chopan M, Littenberg B (2017) The Association of Hot Red Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality: A Large Population-Based Cohort Study. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0169876. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169876

Editor: Oreste Gualillo, SERGAS and IDIS, SPAIN

Received: September 13, 2016; Accepted: December 24, 2016; Published: January 9, 2017

Copyright: © 2017 Chopan, Littenberg. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: Data are available from the US Centers for Disease Control National Center for Health Statistics (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/nhanes3.htm).

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The role of diet in health has become increasingly relevant and investigated. In the past 40 years, the number of PubMed articles indexing diet has increased by at least 700% [1]. While much of the focus has been on macro- and micronutrients, gastronomical aspects have also been investigated.

Peppers and other spices have long been used to color, flavor and preserve foods, as well as for medicinal purposes. Based on the theories of Hippocrates and Galen, spices were thought to help restore the humoral imbalances responsible for disease and illness in medieval times [2]. The benefits of spices and their bioactive compounds have since been suggested by various in vitro, in vivo and experimental models. Pungent spices, for example chili peppers, increase lipid catabolism in different organs and tissues [3–5], which could protect against hypercholesterolemia and obesity, reducing the risks of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The anti-microbial activity of spices, as highlighted by inhibitory effects against H. pylori and other bacteria and fungi [6–8], may alter the gut microbiota and influence various metabolic diseases [9–11]. Many spices possess antioxidant [12] and anti-inflammatory effects [13–15], and could serve to prevent and mitigate various chronic diseases.

The potential anti-tumorigenic properties [16] of some spices have been supported by an ecological study of the U.S. and India, which revealed an inverse relationship between spice production (and, presumably, consumption) and cancer incidence [17]. A prospective cohort analysis in China provided the most convincing evidence to date of the clinical benefits of spices, particularly peppers [18]. It showed an inverse relationship between chili pepper consumption and mortality from all-causes, cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Although data on the consumption patterns in various populations are not available, other groups may differ significantly in the amount and type of peppers used compared to the Chinese. The association between peppers and health has not been studied on a large scale in the west. We sought to measure the association between hot red chili pepper consumption and mortality in a large and representative population of US adults.

Materials and Methods

We studied the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES), a representative sample of the US noninstitutionalized population. Data were analyzed from a subsample of participants in the NHANES III survey conducted from 1988 to 1994. We included all subjects at least 18 years old with complete data for the outcome and the predictors. NHANES participants undergo extensive interviews and laboratory assessments including blood and urine tests and measures of socioeconomic factors, clinical characteristics and personal habits [19]. Usual consumption of foods and drinks during the past month was assessed with an 81-item food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline; however, portion size was not assessed. Vital status provided by the National Death Index was linked with the dataset through December 31, 2011. NHANES was originally a cross-sectional survey; however, the inclusion of follow-up vital status enables a prospective cohort analysis.

The primary predictor was hot red chili pepper consumption per month, derived from subjects’ responses to “How often did you have hot red chili peppers? Do not count ground red chili peppers.” The primary outcome was long-term mortality. Chili pepper consumers were classified as subjects who reported any value greater than zero when asked about the frequency of hot red chili pepper intake per month.

Deaths were ascertained by a probabilistic matching algorithm with the National Death Index, based on various identifying information (social security number, first and last name, date of birth, etc.), or death certificate when possible [20]. Causes of death were classified as Heart Disease (ICD-10 codes I00-I09, I11, I13, I20-I51), Cancer (C00-C97), Chronic Pulmonary Diseases (J40-J47), Accidents (V01-X59, Y85-Y86), Stroke (I60-I69), Dementia (G30), Diabetes (E10-E14), Pneumonia including influenza (J09-J18), Kidney Disease (N00-N07, N17-N19, N25-N27) and all other causes. We also created a combined category of all Vascular Disease including deaths from either Heart Disease or Stroke.

The personal and laboratory characteristics considered as covariates were chosen to minimize the possibility of confounding by social characteristics and personal habits that were plausibly associated with either hot red chili pepper consumption or mortality. Age, gender, education, race, ethnicity, marital status, employment, annual income, physical activity, and consumption of meats, vegetables and fruits were reported by the participants. Educational attainment was divided into four categories: none, grade school, middle school, or high school graduate or beyond. Race was categorized as White, Black, or Other. Ethnicity was categorized as Mexican-American, other Hispanic, or non-Hispanic. Low income was defined as annual income less than $20,000 at the time of the interview in 1984–1994. Marital status was defined as married, divorced or separated, widowed, or never married. Frequency of fruit intake per month included a summative value of numerical responses for orange juice, other fruit juices, citrus fruits, melons, peaches, nectarines, and any other fruits. Similarly, vegetable intake per month included carrots, broccoli, Brussel sprouts/cauliflower, spinach, greens, tossed salad, cabbage, coleslaw, sauerkraut, and any other vegetables. Meat intake per month included bacon, sausage, processed meats, liver and other organ meats, beef, pork and ham. Current use of cigarettes was defined as a confirmatory response to “Do you now smoke cigarettes?” Current use of alcohol was defined as reporting using alcohol in the last 12 months. Because the duration of various exercises were not solicited at the time of survey, physical activity level was indirectly measured, as outlined in a prior study [21], and subjects were classified into three categories: no regular exercise, regular low-to-moderate exercise, or regular vigorous exercise.

Additional characteristics of the subjects representing the possible intermediate effects of hot red chili pepper consumption were also collected. Body measurements were taken by trained NHANES staff using standard protocols [22]. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. Obesity was specified as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2. Cholesterol measurements were standardized according to criteria from the CDC and Prevention Lipid Standardization Program [23, 24]. HDL and total cholesterol values are based on serum samples taken regardless of fasting state. The presence of diabetes was determined by a glycated hemoglobin A1C level ≥6.5% or fasting serum glucose > 125 mg/dl or positive response to “Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have diabetes or sugar diabetes?” The presence of hypertension was determined by a systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg or a positive response to both “Because of your (high blood pressure/hypertension), have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional to take prescribed medicine?” and “Are you now taking prescribed medicine?”

Analysis

Data were retrieved from the NHANES website [19] and statistical analyses were conducted with Stata 14.1 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas). Wilcoxon-rank sum and chi-squared tests were used to compare cohort characteristics for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Association between the predictor and outcome was assessed by multivariate Cox proportional hazards regressions.

Three models were devised. Model 1 consisted of the predictor (hot red chili pepper consumption) and the outcome (mortality). Model 2 added demographic and socioeconomic information to the prior model. Personal habits were added for Model 3. Because markers of obesity, hypertension, diabetes or inflammation might be intermediate factors in the potential causal pathway between hot red chili pepper consumption and mortality, we did not include them in the multivariate models. We calculated hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). A two-tailed P <0.05 was required for statistical significance. We also calculated the unadjusted absolute risk reduction associated with hot red chili pepper consumption and it’s inverse, the number of subjects who would need to consume hot red chili peppers to prevent one death (analogous to the number-needed-to-treat [25]). All analyses were adjusted for the stratified sampling scheme used in NHANES to represent the non-institutionalized US adult population [26].

We performed secondary analyses of the relationship of hot pepper consumption and cause-specific mortality using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for the same variables retained in Model 3 above.

Results

The NHANES III survey for 1988 to 1994 included 33,199 records. After excluding children and adults missing either the outcome, the main predictor, or any of the covariates, 16,179 eligible participants were analyzed (Fig 1).

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Fig 1. Subject Inclusion.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169876.g001

Table 1 presents the baseline characteristics of the participants according to hot red chili pepper consumption. Compared with participants who did not consume hot red chili peppers, those who did consume them were more likely to be younger, male, white, Mexican-American, married, and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and consume more vegetables and meats. They had lower HDL-cholesterol, lower income, and less education.

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Table 1. Characteristics of the study population.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169876.t001

During a median follow-up of 18.9 years (range 1 day-23 years) including 273,877 person-years of observation), we observed 4,946 deaths. Unadjusted mortality for participants who consumed hot red chili peppers was 21.6% (887/4,107) compared to 33.6% (4.059/12,071) for those who did not, resulting in an absolute risk reduction of 12% (P<0.001; 95% CI -13.5, -10.5) and a relative risk of 0.64. The number-needed-to-prevent one death was 8.3.

In model 1, the unadjusted Cox-proportional hazard ratio was 0.59 (P<0.001; CI 0.52, 0.68). See Table 2. With the addition of socioeconomic and demographic variables (model 2), the hazard ratio became 0.87 (P = 0.02, CI 0.78, 0.98). The inclusion of a diet and lifestyle habits (model 3) had little impact with a hazard ratio of 0.87 (P = 0.01; CI 0.77, 0.97).

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Table 2. Cox proportional hazards models of the effect of eating hot peppers on total mortality among 16,179 adults in NHANES III.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169876.t002

Analyses of specific causes of death (Table 3), adjusted for all the variables in Model 3 above, showed similar (but statistically nonsignificant) magnitudes of reduction in the hazard of death from heart disease and stroke, but not from other causes.

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Table 3. Cox proportional hazards models of the effect of eating hot peppers on cause specific mortality among 16,179 adults in NHANES III.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169876.t003

Discussion

In this large prospective study, we observed an inverse relationship between hot red chili pepper consumption and all-cause mortality, after adjusting for potential confounders. Adults who consumed hot red chili peppers had a 13% lower hazard of death, compared to those who did not. These results add to the literature by corroborating the main results of an earlier study [18]. They are distinct in that they are drawn from a different population and thus support the generalizability of the protective effects of hot red chili peppers.

Although the mechanism by which peppers could delay mortality is far from certain, Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels, which are primary receptors for pungent agents such as capsaicin (the principal component in chili peppers), may in part be responsible for the observed relationship. Activation of TRP vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) appears to stimulate cellular mechanisms against obesity, by altering mediators of lipid catabolism and thermogenesis [27]. Protection against obesity leads to decreased risk of cardiovascular, metabolic and lung diseases. Capsaicin may also defend against heart disease via a TRP-mediated modulation of coronary blood flow [28]. Capsaicin’s antimicrobial properties [29] may indirectly affect the host by altering the gut microbiota. For instance, changes in bacterial composition, production of metabolites, and number of colonies have been linked to obesity [30], diabetes [9], cardiovascular disease [10] and liver cirrhosis [11], although the mechanisms for these associations are unknown. Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), an important regulator of cellular growth, is inactivated by various spices, including capsaicin, and could mediate anti-tumor effects [31]. Finally, hot red chili peppers also contain other nutrients, including B-vitamins, vitamin C and pro-A vitamin, which may partly account for its protective effect.

This analysis has several important limitations. Although the narrow confidence intervals and small P-values argue against random error, the apparent association between hot red chili pepper consumption and mortality could be due to confounding by some factor not controlled in the analysis. For example, differences in other foods often consumed with hot red chili peppers, such as other spices, could serve as potential confounders. In fact, one or more of the social or demographic variables included in Model 2 appear to partially confound the unadjusted association between red hot chili pepper consumption and mortality, as demonstrated by the change in Hazard Ratio between Model 1 and Model 2. Nonetheless, the association remains statistically and epidemiologically significant, with no evidence of further confounding by the additional lifestyle characteristics included in Model 3.

Dietary information was gathered in a cross-sectional manner, and may not represent long-term consumption of hot red chili peppers. “Hot red chili peppers” could include a variety of different types, and may represent a narrower selection than seen in the Chinese study (perhaps because of the qualifier “red”). With the exception of ground peppers, the data do not allow for delineation between fresh or dried peppers. The limitations of dietary recall are well recognized [32]. Nonetheless, dietary intake data in the NHANES survey are collected using standardized, validated protocols [33, 34].

The sample cohort is representative of a U.S. non-institutionalized population, but not necessarily generalizable to other groups. The NHANES III survey was conducted during the years 1988 to 1994, and recent patterns of chili pepper consumption may differ.

Cause-specific mortality analysis in this data set are limited by the relatively small numbers of deaths. Nonetheless, the trends towards protection from deaths due to vascular disease stands in contrast to the lack of any apparent protection from death due to accidents, chronic pulmonary disease and kidney disease, and may provide a clue to hot red chili pepper’s mechanism of action.

Our analyses showed a significant decrease in mortality associated with hot red chili pepper consumption. The results support the findings of Lv, et al. [18]. which revealed an inverse relationship between spicy food consumption and mortality, and strengthen its generalizability. Given the observational nature of both investigations, causality can only be suggested, not confirmed. Further studies should aim to investigate the benefits of other spices and differential effects of certain chili pepper subtypes. Such evidence may lead to new insights into the relationships between diet and health, updated dietary recommendations, and the development of new therapies.

Author Contributions

  1. Conceptualization: MC BL.
  2. Data curation: BL.
  3. Formal analysis: MC BL.
  4. Investigation: MC BL.
  5. Methodology: MC BL.
  6. Software: BL.
  7. Supervision: BL.
  8. Validation: MC BL.
  9. Visualization: BL.
  10. Writing – original draft: MC.
  11. Writing – review & editing: MC BL.

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