Hundreds of volunteers are working to ready the town of Carmagnola in Turin for a 10-day festival dedicated to the pepper. The 62nd Carmagnola Pepper Festival begins today, promising pepper-related markets, concerts, art exhibits, workshops and even a marathon.
With only 23 calories per 100 grams, betacarotene, Vitamin A and Vitamin C, the colorful pepper seems well deserving of recognition.
Carmagnola is known for celebrating the pepper in a big way. At last year’s festival, the town made it into the Guinness Book of World Records by turning tractor loads of peppers into the largest peperonata ever made. At 1190 kg, the dish beat out the previous record for vegetable stew that had weighed in at a mere 500 kg.
Keeping with the tradition of large tributes, this year’s festival will award prizes to the biggest peppers grown in Piedmont.
For those looking for a more refined experience, there will also be wine tastings paired with peppery dishes, as well as cooking demonstrations.
The well-peppered affair will wrap up on 4th of September with an outdoor concert and fireworks display.
For more information about how to join the pepper celebration, visit the Sagra del Peperone site (in Italian).
