Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire

Spicy food fans flock to Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire
Lovers of hot sauces and other blazing foods offer survival tips for Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire.
By Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer
Updated 3:18 PM Monday, August 2, 2010

FAIRFIELD — Visitors had different strategies to beat the heat Saturday, July 31, at Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire food show.

The annual event, in its sixth year, tried something new and hosted six spicy food-eating contests. Many of the same contests will take place today.

One of the contestants in the Defcon DeathMatch Hot Wing Eating Contest wouldn’t have entered if it took place two years ago.

“You build up a tolerance over the years,” said Jeff Dennis of Trenton.

Jungle Jim’s International Market attracted record crowds on the first day of the festivities, said Debby Hartinger, promotions manager. She thinks the attendance is bigger than previous records of 3,000. More T-shirts were sold by 3 p.m. than all the shirts ordered last year. She said 75 bottle labels with visitors’ faces had been sold by mid-afternoon, compared with 100 total labels sold during two days last year.

Contests were also full.

Hartinger’s advice to handle the heat: “Always have some pear nectar.” Pears have an enzyme that breaks down capsaicin, the active component of peppers that makes them hot, she said.

Meric Reese of Cincinnati didn’t have any pear nectar when he tried Zero Sludge, the hottest sauce made by New Jersey-based Defcon Sauces.

“You’ve got to hold your breath a little bit. The more you breathe, the more it hurts,” Reese said after taking a sample. “Then after a while, you get a rush; it makes you want to run around a little bit.”

For Curt Howard of Hamilton, the hottest sauce was a toss-up between Zero Sludge and sauces made by Crazy Uncle Jester’s of Dayton. When testing the fiery condiment, he likes to pause for 30 minutes between the hottest sauces.

Howard offers a different tip for eating horseradishes: Breathe in through the mouth and out through the nose to save sinuses.

“Just think about it as if it’s not hot, it’s just an experience,” Howard said.

The contest to watch at today’s show is the Ghost Pepper Brownie Brawl Buster, Hartinger said. At noon, contestants will eat four brownies, each one hotter than the last.