Hot peppers from all over the world, in all shapes, colors and above all, all levels of spiciness, from those that you can eat (with passion or suffering, depending on your taste) to those that you can't even touch without risking burning hands, taste buds, eyes. The whole center of Rieti, with 150 Italian and foreign stands, celebrates for four days, with the World Chili Pepper Campionary Fair, the transversal plant loved and feared on the five continents at the table, but also indispensable for the botanical, pharmaceutical and aesthetic industries. For the 2109 edition, 500 qualities were guaranteed, a real record.
The event organized by the "Rieti Cuore Piccante" Association with the collaboration and support of the Italian Peperoncino Academy, the Ministry of Agricultural, Food, Forestry and Tourism Policies, the Lazio Region, presents itself this year with a renewed organization and numerous novelties, combined with the 'traditional' heart of the event which, in previous editions, has made it possible to reach an annual average of 150 visitors.
One of the strengths of the 2019 edition are the "Spicy LAB Project" cooking show, organized and proposed by chef designer Fabrizia Ventura of "APCI Chef Italia - Professional Association of Italian Chefs" in collaboration with "L'Arte in cucina". Also on the calendar are "lessons" by Cinzia Fumagalli, winner of Top Chef Italia, and Luca Malacrida, Captain of the national Chef APCI team and again by Antonio Sorrentino, executive chef of the Sebeto Spa-Rossopomodoro Group, Anna Maria Palma, director of the Tu Chef school in Rome , Laura Marciani of the “Gli Angeli” restaurant in Magliano Sabina, Ciro Chiazzolino, Pastry Chef Perugina Professional, Pascal Barbato, master baker of Fulgaro Panificatori.
The 2019 event also marks a relaunch of the cultural and media aspect of the event, through the presence of numerous local and national personalities from the world of politics, the economy, trade associations, schools and training who will animate the debate on topics of interest such as the opportunities of the agri-food sector, the relationship between training and the food supply chain and the future of the territory of the province of Rieti.
Already known in Mexico 9.000 years ago, the chilli arrived in Europe with Christopher Columbus after the discovery of America, but it must be said that this precious spice was already used in Asia and Africa due to its mental medical properties.
What is certain is that in Italy it is very popular: 700.000 quintals of it are consumed every year. But it must be said that only a third of what we eat is an Italian product, grown mostly in Calabria and also in Basilicata, Puglia, Lazio, Sicily and Abruzzo, while 70 percent we have to import from Asia to satisfy our need.
It has been calculated that the earnings deriving from the cultivation of chili peppers for a farmer would be between €5.000 and €6.000 for each cultivated hectare. But as always we have to deal with imports from the East that kill our market due to rock-bottom prices even if the wholesomeness of the important product is a real question mark as happens with rice imported from China, Vietnam and Burma where the sanitary rules of cultivation are very approximate to say the least.
And these topics will be discussed during the four conferences scheduled in Rieti
