Curgan: I am Stephen Fiery Redd Curgan. I live in Bella Vista. I moved here a year and a half ago from South Carolina, but I compete in extreme pepper eating competitions with the League of Fire, which is an international pepper eating league. And I'm actually the current world champion.
Stephen "Fiery Redd" Curgan drove from Bella Vista to our studios last week to talk about the extreme sport of competitive hot pepper eating. He brought his world championship belt with him, some hot sauces and some very hot peppers from out of his garden. We also talked about the inaugural Ozark Flame and Flavor Festival that's going to take place at the Record in downtown Bentonville on Aug. 29. Stephen is an engineer by day and an aficionado of hot foods all the time.
Curgan: I just like trying different hot sauces, and I was on a Facebook group called For the Love of Hot Sauce, which led to discovering craft makers. And at one point, about two years ago, everybody on the group was saying, you've got to watch this show Superhot on Hulu or Disney Plus. Didn't know what it was about, but I finally watched it and it exposed the world of competitive pepper eating and League of Fire and everything that they're about. And I just was like, wow. I didn't have any idea this existed. And I enjoy spicy, so I was just curious, I wonder how I would stack up. So I thought it was super cool what they were doing. And I just joined on a whim and one thing led to another.
Kellams: What do you have to do to get good at this? Because you can't, I imagine a rookie, a novice, can't just sit down at a competition and win.
Curgan: That's true. So these peppers, especially at world title level, you started the hottest peppers and you stay at the hottest peppers. So round one, everybody knows the Carolina Reaper. Having five Carolina Reapers for round one is pretty common. So it's extreme from the start. Lower level matches, not quite as intense, but still it builds up with those matches as well. And they still eat those superhot.
So to get good at this, again, it started with me. I like hot sauce and I was kind of at home unintentionally building some spice tolerance. I would always add a little bit more, a little bit more. And over time I unintentionally built somewhat of a spice tolerance. So then when I jumped into the competitive side, I actually could hang a little bit with some people that do this a little bit longer. You have to get over the nauseating flavor and taste of some of these superhot peppers. But if you can stomach the pepper and not gag and get sick, then it just becomes a mind game about how much can I tolerate. Mind over matter, push through the pain and never give up.
Kellams: So when we think of Joey Chestnut in the hot dog eating contest, that's just how many you can do in a certain amount of time. That's not quite the same here, is it?
Curgan: No, I think this is a whole different ball game, honestly. No offense to hot dog eating, but you're stuffing food in your face, right? Who can swallow the best, I guess.
Kellams: Right, right.
Curgan: This is a whole different ball game. This is painful. These are the hottest peppers in the world. Superhot peppers are 1 million Scoville heat unit or higher. So if you think about a jalapeno being 5,000 Scoville heat units or a habanero being around 100,000 Scoville heat units, multiply habanero times 10 or 15. And now you're looking at superhot.
Kellams: Because there are some items in front of us that I want to talk about in a minute. But let's talk about what's going to happen on the 29th.
Curgan: Yeah, it's going to be a cool event even for people that don't like spicy. It's going to be a lot of fun. First of all, it's the entertainment aspect. Even if you would never get on stage, it's something really mesmerizing about watching these people line up and push through the pain. See who can handle it and how far they can go. So it's really fun to watch that.
But aside from that, there's going to be craft hot sauce makers from all around, mostly local, but some from a little bit further as well. And so people will be able to try all these nice craft hot sauces. You don't see stuff like this in a grocery store. There's more flavor, depth and different aspects to the sauce than what you would find at a regular grocery store.
There's going to be other vendors, too. It's going to be kid friendly environment. There's going to be Italian ice, homemade chocolates, baked goods, all kinds of cool stuff. There's going to be jellies, jams, pickled salsas, just a variety of food. On top of food trucks, full bar with some specialty spicy cocktails, it's going to be event only that they haven't offered anywhere else, so that'll be fun. As well as everybody's favorite drinks will be available at the bar. There will be cornhole outside for people to play.
There's going to be competitions throughout the day and rock music in between, so it's pretty much a set of band playing and then a competition, and then a band and a competition all the way through. We're going to start with like a kid's spicy eating competition, a lot milder, but it's still fun. The kids like getting up there and testing their selves, and everybody is going to have cash prizes and trophies, so that's pretty cool. Whoever wins that will be able to walk away with it. And it's a level of pride to say, I did this.
And then the focal point here is going to be the League of Fire Bentonville Belt match, where we're going to have the first ever Bentonville League of Fire Belt, and whoever wins that will be able to go on to League of Fire's Americas Belt and so on. And we have competitors coming from as far as Florida currently that really want that belt.
Kellams: And you brought your belt?
Curgan: I did.
Kellams: What can you tell me about this belt?
Curgan: This belt is the world title belt. So this one is a lot more massive than what you'll see at Bentonville at Ozark Flame and Flavor Festival on Aug. 29. But this is a really epic belt. The coolest thing about this is I actually flew to Cape Town, South Africa, a year and a half ago in March and competed against an undefeated pepper eater at this festival in Cape Town called the Festival of Fire. It was a really beautiful scenic outdoor festival. They had all the similar things with music, craft makers, sauce and so on. Food. And we were the focus, like we were the headlining thing, the world title match. And it's an American versus a South African Cape Town local. So it was intense.
Kellams: All right. We have sirens in the background. So that seems like a good natural way to talk about what you have brought in and put on the table in between us.
Curgan: Absolutely. So I've actually got some superhot peppers from my garden. These are Chocolate Primotaliis, arguably some of the hottest peppers in the world. These things are no joke. Even a small nibble will make you question life decisions. It is intense.
This is a Dragon's Breath pepper. It looks similar to a Carolina Reaper, but it's not the same. I actually like Dragon's Breath more than Carolina Reapers. A little less bitter if you really get into the flavor of it. Honestly, most common person doesn't notice flavor because they're just freaking out when they feel that heat, and they are just trying to figure out how to avoid that.
Aside from the peppers here, which come from my garden, I've actually got a bottle of Fiery Redd hot sauce here. I'm starting a hot sauce company. I'm working with the UofA at the Arkansas Food Innovation Center and actually going through the FDA process there. But aside from that, I've got two of the hot sauces that are going to be at the competition. We do hot sauce rounds. So between eating peppers for the League of Fire belt match, they'll get to have a nice shot glass full of some of these hot sauces.
I know some people that think they are hardcore and I do not. And they have taken a nibble of this and been like, oh, wow. So I would say welcome to try these, but you definitely want to start very small. And honestly, you might want to do that later because it might void some of what you're getting from the sauces here.
So actually, I think we should try this Bean's hot sauce. Savor the flavor. Bean's is a big League of Fire supporter and actually makes really good sauces. I actually have not tried this sauce before, so we're gonna try it together. I will say this sauce is going to be more of a medium. So this is not the killer.
Kellams: Okay.
Curgan: But it should be pretty good.
Kellams: You gave yourself, and I appreciate this, a much more plentiful spoonful than me.
Curgan: Yeah.
Kellams: Okay. So it smells. It smells kind of smoky. I like it.
Curgan: It does. Yeah. So the best thing to do is just take this spoonful in. Just enjoy. Cheers, ladies and gentlemen.
Kellams: Cheers. Okay. I like that a lot. And I'm gonna only take a drink of water here, folks, to cleanse the palate.
Curgan: Yeah, go for it.
Kellams: All right, so you said that's like a mid, right?
Curgan: That's a medium. Nothing crazy. Yeah. No, I wanted something to bring to these that people can actually enjoy and say, wow, hot sauce is good and it doesn't have to blow me away.
Kellams: And I feel it. I'll admit this. I, you know, that's as it's going down the old sternum here. I'm feeling some warmth.
Curgan: Well, if you like, we can jump in and try some Fiery Redd sauce. This is yours. This is mine. This is a, My Garden Fire is the name of this one. And it's because it's using nothing but vegetables, natural vegetables and some vinegar, but it sticks to the food really well. And I personally like that. This one is going to kick a little bit more. It's going to have more of that superhot heat to it.
Kellams: Okay.
Curgan: It's still not over the top crazy, but it is going to be a jump up.
Kellams: Oh yeah. Oh, it's good though.
Curgan: This was actually made at the Food Innovation Center. But when I experiment at home is, you know, how I come up with different recipe ideas, small amounts so that I can test it and see what I need to adjust. And it's honestly a lot of fun. Never thought of myself as a chef, but I just love spicy and being able to create different flavors and different heat levels is something I personally really love. My wife is a little disappointed that she has to be the test dummy all the time, because she cannot handle the heat at all.
Kellams: Okay, so now these peppers.
Curgan: Yeah, this is gonna be a game changer. These are nothing compared to these peppers. You are welcome to sample the peppers if you are interested. All I would say is take a small amount. You don't need to eat the whole pepper. And you will definitely feel a lot from a little bit.
Kellams: This one, which was the Dragon's Breath. Can we cut off just a little bit?
Curgan: Absolutely. Yeah. Dragon's Breath is also a superhot, so give him on. Anything is superhot. We're talking 1 million Scoville heat unit or more. So what I would do is.
Kellams: You want me to?
Curgan: Yeah. Because I'd rather you not pick it up with your hand.
Kellams: Okay.
Curgan: So what I'll do is just kind of. Yeah. And then you can pick that on your spoon. So you don't want it. Once it's cut open, you get the capsaicin in there. That's where you get it on your fingers. You'll have a bad day if you go to the restroom or you rub your eyes. So it's hard to wash it off your fingers. And it does linger. The oil stays on your skin.
Kellams: So we should describe just how little I have on my spoon here. What measurement is that? That's like a teeny tiny.
Curgan: Yeah. What is that? Not even a quarter teaspoon.
Kellams: Not even.
Curgan: Not even. It's very small. It's like the tip of a pencil lead, right? It's pretty small. And just to be fair, I'm the world champion. I'll eat the rest of the pepper.
Kellams: So I'm gonna eat just this a little bit and we'll hear how I react.
Curgan: You got this?
Kellams: Okay. Tastes great. Building. Yeah, building. You know what I love about the taste, though? This is out of your garden, right? It tastes like it. You know how when you get a cucumber.
Curgan: Okay.
Kellams: It's okay. That is. You call that a superhot?
Curgan: That is a superhot.
Kellams: Oh, it is hot, but it tastes good. And it tastes fresh.
Curgan: It is fresh. I picked it this morning.
Kellams: Okay, so that was a pencil lead bit. And that's hot.
Curgan: Oh yeah. And trust me, it's kind of the more you do, the more intense it gets. So it does build. And so I'm just going to dive in and eat this. I'll actually bite it in half. So you can kind of take a peek inside of it if you'd like.
Kellams: Okay.
Curgan: Pretty good. I like this pepper because it does always get the back of my throat. And it is kind of a euphoric feeling.
Kellams: Yes. I have some euphoria here and I've had barely any. So should I want to try it?
Curgan: Yeah. Let's try. Let's do it.
Kellams: Okay. And we'll do the same thing where we cut off just a little bit. And again, this is the chocolate, Chocolate Primotalii, and it is from your garden.
Curgan: This one is over 1.5 million. It is up there.
Kellams: All right. That's a good pepper. That's got heat. And did you pick this this morning too?
Curgan: I did, and I want to point out this one is, it seems twice as the size of the Dragon's Breath. Yeah. They're long, they're an elongated pepper. Mhm. And man, they really do have some heat. Okay. So.
Kellams: All right, world champ.
Curgan: In champion attire. I will finish this pepper. You can see a little tear from that Dragon's Breath.
Kellams: Yeah, yeah. I can.
Curgan: Here we go. I'm gonna eat this pepper. All right. Oh. All right. Okay. That'll wake you up.
Kellams: So in a competition, there would be a round where you'd eat more than one of those?
Curgan: Yeah, typically in a world title match, five or more, typically five per round. Sometimes they'll do 10 or 15, but normally it's about five per round for a world title match.
Kellams: So how do you, if you and I were, you know, the top two competitors, we did this. Would it be who ate it faster or just who could eat the most?
Curgan: So the way it goes is through rounds. They'll do essentially 10 rounds. Each round gets progressively hotter. You see me crying, it gets progressively, well, I'm sorry. A regular match gets progressively hotter. World title, it's superhot from the round one.
Kellams: Gotcha.
Curgan: You're looking at five peppers per round. Once that's completed, if everybody's good, you go to the next round. You keep doing that until they do 10 rounds. The one I did in Detroit the other week, I think we had 12 or 13 rounds. But either way, they can add those bonus rounds in there if they want to. And then at the end, if the two are still standing, there can be only one. So it comes to a speed round.
Kellams: Mhm.
Curgan: That's when it's all about, gloves off, time to go. How fast can I get these down? And let me just say it's one thing to try to eat fast. But after you've eaten over 50 superhots and your throat is swollen and you're really physically reacting, a whole different ball game.
Kellams: All right, let's talk one more time. Where should people go on the 29th?
Curgan: Absolutely. Come down to the Record downtown. It's a block away from the Bentonville Square. It's an indoor festival, so you don't have to worry about the heat. Starts at 3:30 and it goes until 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 29. We're gonna have music, food competitions. I'm gonna be hosting. So I won't be on stage burning this time around, but you're gonna see some really cool competitors, including a competitor that was on that Superhot show. He's going to be competing. He's coming up from Texas to be here.
We've got Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma. Everybody is coming in to compete for that Bentonville belt. There's going to be a lot of locals that are already signed up. The wing eating is already full and we have a waiting list. We've got room for the kids. If your kid wants to compete, see if they can handle a jalapeno. And then we have the amateur match as well.
So Aug. 29. The Record downtown in Bentonville. Block from the square. You don't want to miss it. It's going to be fun, intense, family friendly. You're going to have a good time and I hope to see you there.
Stephen "Fiery Redd" Curgan lives in Bella Vista, and he is the world champion of the League of Fire competitive pepper eating competitions. The Ozark Flame and Flavor Festival is at the Record in downtown Bentonville the night of Aug. 29. Our conversation took place in the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio last week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
