Pepper-eating contest ends in draw
ST. MARTINVILLE — Saturday’s Kiwanis Club Pepper Festival in St. Martinville had plenty of family-friendly fun and entertainment, as well as some top-tier competition during the event’s annual pepper eating contest.
The festival, which was relocated from the festival grounds to Magnolia Park this year, saw craft vendors, games for the kids and a musical lineup that included Keith Frank and Chubby Carrier.
After the usual fun and games, Troy Primeaux of Primeaux’s Peppers took to the stage to introduce the four contestants who were vying for a $200 grand prize and bragging rights for the contest, which saw contestants eating peppers of increasing intensity.
The standard rules for the contest required that contestants be more than 18 years old, only eat one pepper at a time and not have any other food or beverage (milk was provided afterward). Contestants would be disqualified if they couldn’t keep the pepper down, and also would be disqualified if protective coating was found in their mouths to lessen the effect of the peppers.
Competing for the prize were Earl Eastwood from Carencro, Cody Soileau from Baton Rouge, Oliver Peter of Germany and New Iberia resident Tylee Harvison.
“I can’t wait to try all of your beer,” Peter, a tourist to Louisiana, said with a laugh.
The competition started with simple jalapenos, which Primeaux measured to be about 5,000 Scovilles, the measurement that rates the pepper’s pungency, or heat.
“I got these from Champagne’s in Lafayette and they tend to be a little hotter,” Primeaux said.
The four contestants quickly got through the jalapenos, and moved on to Louisiana cayennes that measure between 20,000 and 50,000 Scovilles.
“No one in Germany has eaten it yet,” Primeaux joked to Peter.
The contest quickly got more interesting with aji peppers, a Peruvian delicacy that Primeaux said originate in the Andes mountains and historically were eaten by Native American residents of South and Central America.
Although the four contestants held mostly stoic faces, some of their faces began to crack slightly at the sudden intensity of the peppers.
South American habaneros rating at 250,000 Scovilles were next, followed by devil’s tongue coming in at 600,000 scovilles.
“I’m out,” Earl Eastwood said after finishing off the devil’s tongue pepper, marking the first of the four to quit the contest.
Next up were big mustard mamas, a pepper that Primeaux created in 2011 and came in at 1.2 million Scovilles. Following that were big black mama peppers that came in at 1.4 million Scovilles.
“What’s up?” Soileau said while coughing after he was asked how he was doing.
After that was a pepper called the nutria killer, which Primeaux said measured at 1.5 million Scovilles.
“I’ve popped a couple before and it’s quite an experience,” Primeaux said about the pepper. “It’s a head game. Mind over matter.”
Harvison tapped out after that pepper, leaving only Baton Rouge’s Soileau and Germany’s Peter left in the contest.
For the last pepper, Primeaux brought out the Seven Pot Primeaux peppers, which he said measured at more than 1.5 million Scovilles and were equivalent to eating 300 jalapenos at once.
Both contestants, clearly starting to show signs of fatigue, bit into the pepper more slowly, eventually stopping while looking at each other.
“I think they’re just looking at each other to see who’s going to give up,” Primeaux said.
After the stalemate, Primeaux declared both contestants as tying for first place, and splitting the prize money and bragging rights.