Spring seems so distant, but the North Market is here to help you melt away the winter blues and blahs with our 7th annual Fiery Foods Festival on Saturday, February 20th. Boasting everything from tropical entertainment to tongue-tingling foods the Fiery Foods Festival will put you in a sunny frame of mind!

Want to get directly in on the fiery foods action? Customers can take a shot at fame and fortune (OK, infamy and North Market gift certificates) in a number of contests. There’s the tried and true Amateur Salsa Contest. If you’ve got a good mix of chunky or pureed fruit or vegetable salsa, put it to the test against other homemade salsa makers. Or maybe you like to play with fire? For you we have the Amateur Hot Sauce Contest. He/she with the supreme salsa or hot sauce concocting skills will take home $100 in North Market and CaJohn’s Flavor & Fire gift certificates. Or one can prove their chili preparing proficiency in our ever-popular Customer Chili Cook-off. The competition will garner the first place winner $100 and the runner up $50 in North Market gift certificates. Finally, those with iron gullets can register on the day of the event for the Hot Pepper Eating or the Wings of Fire wing eating contest. Familiarity with the term “capsaicin” should suggest that neither of these contests is for the faint of taste bud, but victors will take home a plethora of CaJohns’ products as prizes.

In its fifth year the Chef Chili Challenge pits local chefs against one another as contenders for the title “North Market Chili Champ 2010,” a special trophy and $200 in North Market gift certificates. Participating chefs (at the time of press release) include representatives of Basi Italia, Chef Butcher’s Creole Kitchen, Latitude 41, Jerry Bullock, the returning champ from North Market Poultry & Game, Pastaria and Two Caterers. We are sure to have many more chef entrants by competition time!

“Many people don’t realize that Columbus is home to the most-awarded fiery foods purveyor in the country, CaJohn’s Fiery Foods.” said David Wible, Executive Director of the North Market. “We’ve been holding the Fiery Foods Festival since before CaJohn was a merchant at the market, but he has always been a participant. His presence as a merchant certainly spices up the Fiery Foods Festival even more.”

Fiery Foods Festival Schedule:
• 8 a.m. North Market opens, fiery foods vendors on premises
• 9 - 11 a.m., musical entertainment by the Andrew Hartman Trio
• 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., face painting by Rita
• 10 a.m., Amateur salsa-making contest in the Dispatch Kitchen
• 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Mark Wood Fun Show, cowboy tricks and balloon shapes
• 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., musical entertainment by The Piano Peddler
• 11 a.m. Free maracas, sombreros, balloons and chili-pepper shaped cookies for the kids (while supplies last)
• 11 a.m. Professional Chili Cook-off featuring chilis by local chefs
• 12 p.m. Amateur Chili Cook-off featuring chilis by customers
• 1 p.m., Amateur Hot Sauce contest in the Dispatch Kitchen
• 1 - 3 p.m., musical entertainment by the Island Breeze Duo
• 2 p.m., Hot pepper eating contest in the Dispatch Kitchen
• 3 p.m., Hot wing eating contest in the Dispatch Kitchen
• 3 - 5 p.m., musical entertainment by the Gadabouts
• Hot and spicy foods featured throughout the North Market all day

The North Market Fiery Foods Festival on Saturday, February 20 is a free event. Festival activities will take place from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Market hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. To participate in the Salsa Contest, Hot Sauce Contest, Customer Chili Cook-off or the Chef Chili Challenge, and for more information, please call (614) 463-9664 or visit www.northmarket.com. Sign up for the Hot Pepper and Hot Wing Eating Contests will take place in the Dispatch Kitchen on the day of the event. A tasting fee of $5 enables onlookers to sample all of the chilis by both professional chefs and amateur contestants while supplies last. ###

Always fresh, always local….just a couple of the reasons to love the North Market.

Hubert Wilamowski owned a restaurant in Poland, therefore he’s exceptional at serving up hearty, authentic, made from scratch daily specialties from his home country. From classic pierogies to handmade kielbasa to stuffed cabbage, if you are missing the comforts of the old country, Hania’s Olde World Cuisine is one of the only places in Columbus to offer up abundant Eastern European fare.

It’s a family affair at Stan Riley’s Holy Smoke BBQ biz in the North Market. Stan owns the business and does the smoking of brisket, pork, chicken and more. Stan’s sister, Amanda, and his brother, Neil, help out by manning the booth and serving up the hearty fare.

Jean-François Flechet brings a taste of his home country, Belgium, to the North Market in the form of delectable Liege-style waffles and crêpes. Taste of Belgium’s gaufres de Liège are a dense, sweet, caramelized treat!

From a colorful array of Fiestaware to new Chefwear and professional restaurant serving ware, there’s a little bit of restaurant-everything at The Source by Wasserstom. Browse the cheapie 4 for a dollar bin, pick up a platter for your next party or select some glasses for everyday use. There’s an always-changing assortment at The Source that makes it ever-entertaining for those who like to entertain.

Michael Jones and the fine folks at The Greener Grocer want to eat your veggies, and in doing so, contribute to the greater cause of supporting local agriculture, access to produce in underserved neighborhoods and the livelihood of Ohio’s farmers.

Doug Denny and the rest of The Fish Guys (Angelo, Bobby and Shawn) serve up fresh and sustainably sourced seafood seven days a week.

From providing fresh locally raised chicken, bison and rabbit for Columbus shoppers to cooking up some of the tastiest homestyle cuisine in the city at “Kitchen Little”, Annemarie Wong and the staff at North Market Poultry and Game are a North Market staple and a Columbus favorite.

Sarefino’s is home to fabulous New York style ‘za, stromboli, calzones and an awesome assortment of Italian meats and cheeses. East Coasters rave about it and so will you.