In an event organized in the Oltu district of Erzurum, eastern Türkiye, competitive young people lined up to beat their peers by eating the world’s hottest pepper, the “Carolina Reaper.”
Participants tried their best to ease the pepper’s intense heat with tea, water, yogurt and lemon, as tears streamed down their faces. At the end of the competition, participants were treated to a fresh cake.
A Turkish travel agency that organizes trips to various regions of the country during the summer spends its winter evenings organizing fun events for frequent travelers. Every week, a group gathers, and during their latest meet-up, they decided to hold a hot pepper-eating contest.
The agency’s president, Kaan Yavuz, who discovered that the Carolina Reaper was listed in the Guinness World Records as the world’s hottest pepper, ordered it online. After receiving the peppers from Antalya, Yavuz met with the group members at a cafe in the district center. Following the seller’s warning, the young people wore gloves and began quickly eating the peppers, which Yavuz had cut with a knife.
With every bite, the young participants sweated and tears streamed from their eyes, making the onlookers burst into laughter. To counter the effects of each pepper, some even stepped outside into the 10-degree Celsius (14-degree Fahrenheit) cold.
The winner of the competition was Hilmi Tonguç, who ate the most peppers, followed by Kerim Kaya in second place, Ömer Faruk Zengin in third and Hikmet Karagöl in fourth.
Kerim Kaya, who came second in the contest, said: “It wasn’t as painful as I expected, but it was really hot,” wiping tears from his eyes. Third-place winner Ömer Faruk Zengin added, “These peppers are even hotter than Fenerbahçe!”
Osman Kamacı, a group member, explained: “Since we can’t go on tours during the winter season, we organize evening events. Tonight, we held a contest to eat the world’s hottest pepper. Our winner, Hilmi Tonguç, did an excellent job. Congratulations!”