Tropic of Capsaicin

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Big Chile Saturday

Austin is a chile-loving town all right, and in recent years locals have become addicted to the definitive flavor of chiles grown in and around Hatch, N.M. Shipments of the big green chiles will be available fresh and roasted to order at several places around town for the next few weeks. If your taste runs to jalapeños, Anaheims, and habaneros, we know where to find those, as well.

Austin's Historic Farmers' Market

6701 Burnet Rd., 454-1002

Hatch Chile Festival, Aug. 15-Labor Day weekend

9am-noon
Market master C. Hill Rylander has made his annual pilgrimage to Hatch, N.M., and returned with bags of fresh chiles, which he'll be roasting at the market every morning for the next two weeks. Carefully seal roasted peppers in small bags and freeze: enough to last all year long.

Westlake Farmers Market

4100 Westbank Dr. (Westlake High parking lot)

Saturday, Aug. 23, 10am-1pm
www.westlakefarmersmarket.com

The second annual Chile Pepper Festival at this popular suburban market is a family affair offering spicy food tastings from Zoot, Wink, Cafe Josie, and Satay; fresh chiles that can be roasted on the spot; plus chile tamales, pizzas, breads, pastries, cheese, pestos, salsas, artworks, and more. For the kiddos, they'll have a moon walk, face painting, a trained animal show, and a stilt walker.

Downtown Farmers' Market

Fourth & Guadalupe

Some Like It Hot Festival

Saturday, Aug. 23, 8am-noon
Organizers here have opted to celebrate the plentiful late-summer herbs and vegetables -- basil, eggplant, peppers, and okra -- with some cheerful festivities. They'll have such fun and games as an okra relay and a jalapeño-eating contest to see how many peppers participants can eat in one minute. This market features craft booths, food vendors, chef demonstrations, and live music, as well as produce from area growers.

Boggy Creek Farm Stand

3401 Lyons, 926-4650
Wednesdays & Saturdays, 9am-2pm

www.boggycreekfarm.com

If it's August, that means farmer Larry Butler has just finished putting up his nationally famous smoke-dried tomatoes. This year, while he had the smokers fired up anyway, Butler threw on some of his own organic habanero peppers, and now hot-food lovers can buy a limited supply of the incendiary little devils, smoked to perfection. They come in plastic bags and should be handled with great care. Larry will also be glad to roast his organic Anaheim peppers to order for customers who ask politely.

Central Market

4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000

4477 S. Lamar, 899-4300

Hatch Chile Festival, Aug. 22-24; 29-31
www.centralmarket.com

Central Market trucks in bushels and bushels of Hatch chiles this time of year and roasts them fresh every day for your shopping pleasure. They'll also have plenty of helpful tips about storing and freezing your annual supply of peppers as well as delicious recipe suggestions for their preparation. For a complete listing of event activities and info, check out their Web site.