A Taste of Raw Chili
By Marilyn Zink
When it comes to raw food, chili isn’t the first thing that springs to mind.
Usually you think of chilli as something that has to be cooked. My family and I recently experienced chilli in all its variations at a local festival called the Fire and Ice Festival in Qualicum, B.C. Since there were so many line-ups for chili at this popular little festival, my family members decided to eat something else. But I still wanted chili.
If you’re wondering about the name, the fire is the chili and the ice is ice sculptures created by local sculptures. The two complement each other perfectly. Patrons get to try different variations of chilli from the various stands set up throughout the downtown core.
While eating chilli and wandering around, they can view the various ice sculptures being created. The creators have to work fast before it warms up enough to melt the ice.
While we wandered I didn’t expect to see a raw variation of chilli, but there was one, created by a local eatery known as Rawthentic.
Naturally I had to try it. I had never had raw chilli before and this was something new and interesting. The raw chilli was delicious and had much more heat than I expected. Food doesn’t have to be cooked to taste ‘hot.’
Heat can be added with the addition of a variety of spices such as chilli spice, cayenne pepper and chipotle spice. Raw chilli can be prepared with vegetables and sundried tomatoes are often added to the mix. So the raw chili didn’t taste ‘raw’ with extra crunchy vegetables. But I suppose if someone wanted to prepare it that way, they could.
Eating raw food is a good way to be healthy and there are an amazing variety of meals that can be prepared with raw foods. To learn more about raw foods, click here to get more details from raw foods expert Kevin Gianni.
Marilyn Zink is the publisher of the Herbal Collective magazine, and the online herbal community Herbguide, where you can get more details on herbs for health, cooking, gardening, crafts, aromatherapy and education.
