Datil Pepper Cook-Off Festival to take place October 6 | News

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- The Sixth Annual Datil Pepper Festival Cook-Off will take place in St. Augustine on Saturday October 6th.

The event will bring top chefs from St. Augustine's restaurants to the St. Johns County Agricultural Festival where they will compete in the contest.

The contest is put on by the UF/IFAS St. Johns County Cooperative Extension Service.

The cook-off, which takes place in conjunction with the St. Johns County Home and Garden Show, is open to the public.

Competing chefs are invited to create both an appetizer and an entree dish using the local 'datil pepper.'

A first prize will be awarded for entree and appetizer in two separate categories. The People's Choice Award will be judged by the participating public at the Festival. The Professional Award will be decided by a panel of judges.

Tickets are $1 and will be sold the day of the event and are available on a first come first serve basis. Judging will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

On Sunday, October 7th, an Amateur Datil Pepper Hot Sauce contest will take place at the Wind Mitigation building at the St. Johns County Agricultural Center. The winner will receive $50 and you can submit as many entries as you want. The winner will be announced on October 7th at the Home and Garden Show.

If you have any questions, you may write to Family and Consumer Science Agent II, University of Florida/St. Johns County Cooperative Extension Servcies -- IFAS, 3111 Agricultural Center Drive, St. Augustine, Florida 32092. You may also email jgcoop@ufl.edu.