2016 Datil Pepper Fall Festival

From 2016 Datil Pepper Fall Festival Website:

The University of Florida's St. Johns County IFAS Extension will host the annual Datil Pepper Festival on Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, 2016. The two-day event will focus on St. Augustine's special relationship with the datil pepper, and will feature a Cook-Off on Saturday with several local restaurants competing.

Featuring a variety of activities and delicious datil pepper tastings, this annual celebration seeks to encourage the cultivation of the datil pepper in the St. Augustine area and to recognize its importance in the culinary heritage of the nation's oldest city.

Local restaurants will choose chefs to compete in the Datil Pepper Cook-Off, creating new dishes for guests to taste. The competitors must use the datil pepper as one of the main ingredients within their dish. Guests of the festival may purchase tasting coupons ($1 a taste) to sample various items that the competitors create. After they taste the delicious appetizers and entres, guests are invited to vote on a People's Choice Award for each category. Professional judges will also judge the dishes separately, making the competition that much more intense.

There will be a wide selection of datil pepper products, plants, and decor available for sale during the event, including rain barrels and the Master Gardener plant sale. Tours of the arboretum and community gardens will be given throughout the weekend.