It gets jalapeno business!

My original plan to start this post was to emphasize just how much I don’t like peppers. Unfortunately, I waited way too long to write this, and that seems to be (rather ironically) the start of most of these blog posts. So Instead, I went with that joke.

At first, I was skeptical of the event. When we first arrived, we stood under a tent to avoid the pouring rain, while a few of us commiserated about how we detest peppers. But then we went inside and we had a chance to sample some peppery chocolate, which was pretty good. Soon, the rain cleared up, and we could go explore the rest of the event unimpeded.

Most of my time was spent in the education tent. Although I’m not a fan of the taste of peppers, I love botany and chemistry. The volunteers were very excited to share their knowledge of peppers with passerby, and thrilled when someone delved deeper into a topic.

There was even a pepper “world tour”, which allowed you to sample different peppers from around the world, and see how they spread. I’ve included a low-resolution picture of the map for anyone who’s interested. Surprisingly, peppers made it to the southwest US last, even with such a close proximity to their origin in South America. An older man next to me even told a volunteer quite frankly that he doesn’t believe it, and marched off defiantly.  We could all learn a lot from that man.

Even though I’m not a fan of peppers, I sampled the southwestern salsa, and even tried the habanero ice cream. They managed to make the ice cream both spicy and cool by using a cream cheese base. It wasn’t bad, the taste got old pretty quickly. All in all, it ended up being a good time. It was a nice excuse to get out of my room and see the plantations.

So next time you see a pepper party pop up, don’t hesitate to stop on by, even if you don’t like peppers. But I would recommend asking for a small scoop if you try the habanero ice cream.