Feel the heat: Celebration of chilli takes over town

By Jake Clothier jclothier@rdg.today

READING Chilli Fest returned to the town centre on Saturday, attracting fans of the flaminghot food so they could taste and try some spicy snacks and ingredients.

Vendors such as GingerBeard’s Preserves, Fair Dinkum Fare, Wiltshire Chilli Farm, and Tipsy Fruit Gins were set up on Broad Street in a promenade of picante products.

Reading residents Kaz and Whiskers have been running Saucey Lady since they entered the Fiery Foods Chilli Contest in 2012, after Kaz began making chutney.

“We started off just making stuff for family and friends, but then we won the amateur competition, and went from there.

“We did little fetes and church halls and it grew bigger and bigger from there.”

They are also no strangers to Reading’s Chilli Fest: “We’ve done all of them, right the way from 2015.”

As well as catering to fans of fiery foods, Saucey Lady also offered lighter sauces for more delicate palettes, including an award-winning sauce which features citrus fruits and prosecco among its ingredients.

Fellow vendor Michael Price from Prices Spices says: “We’ve been coming to the Chilli Fest the last four or five times in the 10 years we’ve been trading.”

He said that people flock to the festival because: “Chilli gives people a bit of an endorphin rush, and there’s so many ways to go with it.

“It’s a way to jazz up your food, whether you’re cooking or just slapping it on an off-theshelf pizza.

“The pain goes, and then they want to go again.”

John Maillard has run Johnny HoT Stuff from Henleyon-Thames since late in 2018, and says that the response from punters had been: “Really good.

“We’ve been so busy with people buying and trying, so Reading was quite hot today.

“People are understanding the nuances, the flavour and heat differences of chilli these days, so we’re quite gourmet in our flavour range and we like to mix and match different things together.

“There’s a taste for everyone, so we really try and cater to that.”

Transport for the South East launches electric vehicle strategy

A REGIONAL transport body has launched a new strategy is drive the switch to electric vehicles in the south east.

Transport for the South East (TfSE) has launched its new Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure Strategy, which sets out steps to provide charging points for greener travel.

The strategy estimates that as many as 28,500 charging points may be required across the south east before the end of the decade.

It follows the approval of the strategy by TfSE’s partnership board earlier this year, with the plans drawing on input from local authorities, network and infrastructure operators, and key stakeholders.

It was also subject to advice from Network Rail and representatives from National Highways.

Plans are designed to work alongside government commitments to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and are part of TsFE’s aims to achieve net zero on carbon emissions by 2050.

The body also received funding from the Department for Transport, and will implement the strategy by supporting public information campaigns and reviewing and revising proposed technical works and installations.

Cllr Keith Glazier said: “The transport sector is the biggest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions in the south east.

“We need to think and plan smarter as well as greener so we can lead the way on decarbonising our country’s transport network.”

He continued: “Every day more people are making the switch to electric vehicles, which brings us a step closer to achieving net zero emissions.

“Transport for the South East’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy and action plan is an opportunity to prepare for the inevitable future demand as more people make the switch.”

He said that TFSE was “committed to working with partners both nationally and here in the south east” to drive the changes needed to decarbonise the transport network.

“This strategy is a big step to support this but must work alongside wider measures to give people an alternative choice to the car, more freight on to rail and better joined up planning of new housing and employment to encourage more sustainable transport choices.” n Full details of the plans are available online via: transportforthesoutheast.org. uk/our-work/electric-vehiclecharging-infrastructure-strategy/