For all pepper fans: first edition of SHIT HOT FEST is coming
Amsterdam restaurant Deus Cantina will transform into a ‘temple of hotness’ on April 9 and 10 for the very first edition of Shit Hot Fest. Do you like a little spicyness in your life? Then this is the place to be: you’ll meet the best hot sauce makers in the world and taste for yourself what makes spicy cuisine so insanely hot.
Food festivals come in all shapes and sizes. But an event dedicated to peppers and hot sauce is new: ‘In other countries, the market for hot food is much hotter than in the Netherlands. And we – Deus Cantina and T-Rex Sauces – are going to change that,’ says Neil Roake, co-organizer of Shit Hot Fest (and co-founder of T-Rex Sauces). Together with his business partner Frank Dekker (co-founder of T-Rex Sauces and chef at Deus Cantina) and Chris Bron (restaurant manager at Deus Cantina), he came up with Shit Hot Fest.
Best hot sauce makers
Host country Portugal opens the event with three of its best hot sauce makers (Temperus, Senhor Rito, O Petiska). If you come to Shit Hot Fest, you can sample products from 16 international names in the hot sauce world.
Hot, hotter, HOTTEST
The 750m2 Cantina is divided into 4 ‘areas’. There are hot tastings and meet & greets with the makers in the Garage Kitchen, a pepper market by Westlandpeppers in the Moto Room, and hot vinyl sessions in the Living Room. To top it all off, the notorious Carolina Reaper pepper takes center stage in the Fire in the Hole Room.
Chili-eating competition
On Saturday, April 9, the ultimate sh*t hot test is on the program: the hot chilli eating competition. Participants compete against each other and eat the hottest peppers in existence. Whoever makes it through the challenge wins a limited-edition sh*it hot toilet seat – you’ll definitely need it – and eternal glory.
Cooling down
The Cooling Down Station and the Cider Bar offer some much-needed relief. Here you can extinguish your taste buds with ciders from the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and France.
A tenner
Tickets cost €10 and are available on EventBrite. The event is open from 12:00-16:00 on both days. Admission includes tortilla chips (for hot sauce tastings), 15% off all Deus Cantina purchases, and ‘some sh*it hot fun’.’ For more information, see Instagram @deuscantina, @shit_hot_fest, and the website of Deus Amsterdam.
