As Director of Marketing my job distills down pretty simply to: promote the North Market. When we’ve got major events like the Fiery Foods Festival going on, it just comes naturally, as I simply highlight the great things our merchants do daily that complement our theme. In promoting this great place and our events I get to interact with many of Columbus’ media “personalities”. Yesterday I got to “play” with one of Columbus’ most gregarious characters, WTTE/FOX 28’s Johnny DiLoretto. I’ve noticed that the mere mention of Johnny D evokes passionate responses from folks. From the exuberant, “He’s so funny, I just LOVE him!” to an eyeroll accompanied by a groan, “Ugh, he’s SUCH a goofball!” Having personally embraced my own goofball tendencies years ago, I have great appreciation for Johnny D. He’s consummately professional, helpful and sincere and while he certainly doesn’t take himself too seriously, he absolutely takes his responsibility to report on the events, organizations and venues that he covers in earnest. It’s evident that he loves his job, the experiences it affords him and the people he gets to meet.

I thought it would be fun to document a little of the goings-on yesterday from behind-the-scenes footage to the on-air action. I freely admit that part of my motivation was to keep myself focused. I am unquestionably a morning person and relish in my regular duty of opening the Market- usually a 7 a.m. task. To set up for the live television broadcast required me to be there at 6 a.m. and I’m amazed at what a difference that extra little hour of sleep makes. Nonetheless I was there at 5:50 a.m., bright-eyed (more or less) and ready for the shoot. While our cameraman Aaron fiddled with important gear in the station’s truck, Johnny unwound hundreds of yards of coaxial camera cable and distributed it up and down the aisles in front of the stalls of the various merchants we were scheduled to chat with about their particular spicy dishes.

Pam of Pam’s Market Popcorn had been in since the middle of the night preparing a big order to be shipped out. As she feverishly worked to adorn her stand with red garland, flame motifs and flashing lights we decided to do the opening hit there. Johnny donned one of our prop sombreros (which we’ll be giving out to kids this Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m.) and practiced a couple of introductory lines. Aaron prepped the camera while Johnny conversed with the producers back in the studio via the “magic of television” and his ear piece. It appeared that despite the enormous sombrero perched on his head, they couldn’t see him on the remote feed (uh-oh)…and he was supposed to broadcast in about 3 minutes. Aaron rushes outside and “jiggled that button” in the truck and all is well, they can see Johnny. I throw on a sombrero and we do the opening preview about what to expect at the North Market this weekend it’s only a 30 second or so hit and it’s over in a flash…

Now onto the real stars, our merchants. First up we hit up the expert on all things chile-related John Hard (more familiarly known as CaJohn). He’d brought a passle of peppers for consideration and sampling. From the milder jalapeno to the scorching habanero to the inferno that is the bhut jolokia. CaJohn is familiar with them all and what makes them distinctive. He gives Johnny a little tutorial about capsaicin (what makes the peppers hot) and Scoville units (how the heat of the peppers are measured) and busts the myth that it’s the seeds that make the peppers hot (the capsaicin resides in the white fleshy membranes). They top off the lesson with a nibble on one of the less tear-inducing peppers.

Between takes there’s downtime to set up the next shot. The equipment is hauled down to Firdous where Abdul has assembled the ingredients to make his notorious Tunisian Chicken. It’s one of Firdous signature dishes and the only one to warrant its own sign that reads: I.D. Required. Must be old enough to handle the heat. HOT! HOT! HOT! Tunisia is the northernmost country on the African continent and as it is 40% desert it’s somewhat ironic that one of its traditional dishes (served in its cities) is something so scorching. The ingredients sound innocuous enough: chicken breast, tomato, garlic and black olives…but it’s the “special sauce” that gets ya! Judging by the look on Johnny’s face I’d say he’s feeling the heat, but approves!

One of our recurring morning’s themes was spicy cuisine from around the world. The lovely Nida Perry came in and prepared Thai curry, a dish available at the North Market and her new Short North restaurant, Nida’s Thai on High. Nida was a trooper to make it in for the spot as 7 a.m. comes MUCH earlier when you’ve been up late tending to your new “baby” (especially when that baby is a fledgling restaurant). Red curry paste, coconut milk, fresh basil and shrimp were just a few of the ingredients that make this dish sing. Johnny liked it so much that Nida made up a “to-go” pack for him to take home for lunch (ah, the perks of stardom)!

At the North Market we’re fortunate to have some of the most creative minds in the city when it comes to dessert gathered under one roof. We assembled Dan Cooper of Pure Imagination Chocolatier, Pam Tylka of Pam’s Market Popcorn and Tom Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams to offer their unique takes on the Fiery Foods gig. Pam had a formidable duo with popcorn flavors “Mad Max” and “Painful Purgatory Pepper” popcorns. Daniel responded with chocolate-dipped jalapeno peppers and wasabi truffles. Tom simultaneously cooled things down with an ice cream finale while bringing the heat in the form of flavors Thai Chili (peanutt-y with a kick) and Queen City Cayenne (chocolate with a POW!). All samples were eagerly devoured the minute we called “cut” on that take!

On our continuing piquant culinary tour around the world we made a stop in Italy. Chef Rocco Valentino of Pastaria gave Johnny a sneak preview of his entry into the Chef Chili Challenge. It is an Italian-inspired chili with nice chunks of beef that’s been long simmered with Italian seasonings, tomatoes and peppers. (Lucky me, as a tagalong I got to sample too!) It certainly fit the bill for the Fiery Foods Festival. Meanwhile Steven “the best pizza pie thrower in Columbus” was at work rapidly and efficiently putting together an arrabiatta pizza pie.

If you are ever nostalgic for the old-style pizzerias where they hand toss the crust, feel free to stop by Sarefino’s in the morning and watch our pizza phenom, Steven, at work. A round of pizza dough is passed through a presser, then Steven masterfully stretches the dough by hand, tossing and spinning it in the air to achieve the perfect pizza pie shape. He drops the flawless dough disk onto the counter, slathers it in sauce, covers it in grated cheese and puts on a gazillion pepperoni in perfect concentric circles all at a rapid-fire pace (See! He’s even a blur in the photo he’s moving so fast!). Within a minute it’s been hoisted onto the pizza peel -the wooden contraption used for putting them into and pulling them out of the piping hot pizza ovens- and placed into the oven. Minutes later Steven proudly delivers the finished product for us to polish off. The cameraman, Aaron, will testify that Steven is quite the craftsman.

We wind up the segment back where we started, with the infamous CaJohn who will prepare his award-winning Texas-style CaBoom Chili. It’s such a simple recipe that it’s a cinch to prepare at home (provided you’ve made a stop by CaJohn’s Flavor & Fire stand at the Market). Brown a pound (or more) of ground beef (or ground turkey if that’s your thing). Drain off any liquid. Add a cup of water and three tablespoons of CaBoom Chili Fixins (CaJohns special spice mix) per pound of meat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add one jar of your favorite CaJohns salsa per pound of meat (picante sauce is recommended in your preferred heat level), simmer for at least another 10 minutes and it’s ready to serve! Of course, if you are too lazy or pressed for time you can also buy it by the pint/quart/gallon from CaJohns CaBoom Chili Co. at the North Market.

Ever the adventurous one, Johnny D decided to end his segment with a little teeny taste of the world’s hottest known pepper, the Bhut Jolokia (aka the ghost pepper). To give you perspective on how hot this is, a habanero pepper registers at about 250,000 Scoville units while the jolokia clocks in at more than 1,000,000 Scoville units. Yeah, that’s hot! And not in the trite Paris Hilton sense, but mouth-burning hot. Our intrepid reporter put about 1/8 teaspoon of the jolokia puree in his mouth and CaJohn talked him through the sensation. “It’s not going to feel very hot at first, and you’ll get the nice flavor of the pepper.” Johnny nodded his head and looked totally unfazed at this point. “But slowly, the heat is going to spread around your whole mouth and it’s going to build. And just when you think it’s done, it’s going to get hotter.” Johnny looks a little flushed and is beginning to “glow” a little bit. He finishes the segment, signs off and looks relieved that the camera is out of his face as he begins to perspire in earnest. Fortunately, the fine folks at Flavor and Fire keep an extra pint of milk around just for such emergency occasions. That and a bowl of Jeni’s vanilla ice cream seem to do the trick. It’s time to pack up the truck and head back to the station. Thanks for the publicity for our Fiery Foods Festival Johnny D! We sure had fun and hope you did too. You know you’re welcome at the North Market any time!