Hotheaded chilli fans brave heats
Zizi Sparks
Tears were flowing and noses were running on Saturday as seven brave men took part in the Rotorua heat of the New Zealand Chilli Eating Champs.
They all stepped up to the plate but only one was victorious.
Competition organiser and Fire Dragon Chillies owner Clint Meyer said the rules were simple — no drinking, no leaving the table and no throwing up.
“You have to be pretty crazy to enter, have a cast iron stomach and like hot chillies.”
The chillies get hotter every round, starting with a jalapeno and moving on to habaneros, Brazilian ghost chillies and scorpion moruga chillies. There were chicken wings and a hot corn chip thrown in.
One chilli was named the seven pot chilli. “There’s enough fire in this chilli to fire up seven pots of stew,” Meyer said.
Ultimately two-time New Zealand champion Joshua Shotter narrowly beat Tommy Thiessen. It was Shotter’s third competition this year and he’s already qualified for the New Zealand finals in Auckland on May 26.
“It’s just the rush of it, doing something you know the majority of people can’t,” he said.
“The guy who came second had me a bit worried. I was willing him to grab that milk but I could have had another chilli.” Watch the video at nzherald.co.nz
Shotter said the win was all in the preparation.
“I have a bowl of chips or something like that before, then a tin of creamed rice an hour before, then I usually have a glass of milk five minutes before.”
Thiessen went through 14 rounds before he broke.
The winners of heats being held around the country will face off at the third annual New Zealand Hot Sauce Festival.