Feeling Preggers: Pickles and Ice Cream

We're taking a quick break from hot dog coverage because we've become overwhelmed with a craving for something crispy and salty or creamy and sweet...or both. Is Digest pregnant? Maybe just a swollen belly...

Liz stopped by the Carnegie Deli Pickle Eating Competition last week, and Krista got inside access to the "media only" ice cream event last Friday. Can you handle it?

Checking out the Independents
reported by Liz

You think we do a lot of reporting on competitive eating, but the truth of it is we're only covering a portion of the eating events that are happening all over the country. The IFOCE is the largest and most recognized entitiy that sponsors these events, which is why it's been so easy for us to follow their eaters. But in the interest of bringing you the whole picture, we thought it would be worth our time to check out an event hosted by a rival group, the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE). "Rival" is a loaded term around eaters from both camps, as some don't consider the groups to be on the same level competitively, and some just don't like the hostility. The AICE was founded in 2004 by Arnie "Chowhound" Chapman and Dave "Coondog" O'Karma and has it's own set of rules about food eating (they follow "picnic style rules" which "do not allow for the mutilation, desecration, improper destruction of a food item." That means separating the bun from the dog and dunking the buns are big no nos.), and most importantly, about eaters being allowed to enter non AICE competitions (they're allowed.)

This last one is a biggie, because when eaters sign the IFOCE contracts, they aren't allowed to enter non-IFOCE sponsored events. Permission is granted for some events, but it's a point of contention for some eaters. And it seemed like everything came to a head during planning of this pickle competition. The IFOCE had given the go ahead for their eaters to enter the competition, but it eventually became clear that it was shaping up to be an AICE event, which rubbed some eaters, like the very vocal Beautiful Brian (another pickle champ), the wrong way. Apparently, the IFOCE had approached the deli owners at some point about running the competition, but the owners weren't into it. Brian says the owners told him they would let him and Cookie Jarvis decide who entered the contest, but then let the AICE in, which prompted a boycott on behalf of the interested IFOCE members. The only holdout was Krazy Kevin Lipsitz, who won the competition in 2000 and felt some loyalty to the owners and the event.

For all the politics surrounding the event, you could almost forget it was a bunch of excited guys hungry to shove pickles down their throats. My mom was visiting and curious to see the an event, so I brought her along for the competition. Unfortunately, we were doing a lot of running around before getting her off to the airport, so I didn't get to do the usual rounds of interviews. The crowd was huge; they had the stage set up outside the Carnegie Deli and klezmer music was blaring from a one-man band in the corner.

Right away they asked for a female participant from the audience to join the table of men, and I have to say there was a moment when I thought very seriously that this was a SIGN FROM GOD that I should be eating pickles competitively. But then who would take the pictures? No, I totally chickened out and they pulled out some poor lady who was waving to her son across the crowd. Ha.

All the eaters introduced themselves and their titles, which was a bit of a refreshing change from the loooong theatrics of the IFOCE intros. I love the drama that the Shea brothers have brought to the sport, and I missed having that at this competition. That said, once you've heard the full introductions a half dozen times, you start to zone out, so I welcomed the change of pace.

The pickles looked like they were tough going down. Everyone was hunched over their own bowl, cramming as many as they could in their mouths. But pickles aren't a forgiving food, so jaws were definitely working hard. My mom, who had a side view said that Arnie Chapman kept his neck jutted out the entire time, which she thought made for a straighter path for the pickle bits. He was taking large bites and "you could see the muscles in his throat moving the food down." She kept using the word "peristalsic," and calling it the "gullet technique." Honestly, how cool is my mom?

The crowd, full of Chowhound fans, was chanting, "Ar-nie! Ar-nie!" The contest was a short one, only five minutes long (later, some controversy surfaced about the timing being off and the competition only lasting four minutes), and the bowls were taken off the table, drained of brine, and weighed. It was a bit confusing because the weight of the bowl and leftover picles was announced, and then if they ate a lot, the total weight eaten was announced. But it was a little sporadic and the only hard number they came away with was the winner's: Arnie Chapman with 2.8 pounds (later adjusted to 2.9 pounds. Will the controversies ever stop!) He donned a pickle necklace and danced with the trophy in front of clicking cameras.

In the end, I had a lot of fun. It didn't feel rife with tension, and everyone there was obviously enjoying themselves. Krazy Kevin said he enjoyed participating and thought all the hoopla about this competition is best left alone. He told me, "Arnie is a good eater and he earned first place." It was a sentiment that was echoed by other eaters, too. A healthy dose of competition and shit talking is what fuels these eaters; obviously the sport wouldn't be same without it, but it's good to remember that behind it all, we're still looking at a bowl full of pickles and a bunch of eaters hungry to win. Pictures here.

Brain Freeze
reported by Krista
Now for something sweet...and cold...and vanilla. New York's swanky Water Club hosted Friday's Ice Cream Competition. The Water Club staff is probably more comfortable hosting weddings (fun fact George Shea was married here) and corporate holiday parties, but today they were on point to make sure ten guys could eat as much Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory vanilla ice cream as possible in eight minutes.

The usual suspects had gathered, although I believe the lovely surroundings made everyone a bit more subdued. Pat Philbin calmly sat looking out over the East River as waiters in white jackets set water glasses on the contest table. The first person I talked to was Don Lerman who was rocking his aviator sunglasses and discussing his planned eBay sale with Crazy Legs. It seems Don, whose weight fluctuates tremendously, has gained 100 pounds over the past two years and now all of his many embroidered Don "Moses" Lerman jackets are too small for him. So what is an industrious competitive eater to do? He's selling all of his small and medium jackets to the highest bidder. He seems to never have the same jacket on twice, and when I asked him about where they came from he told me that every Monday he goes to the Dollar Savers and buys up the jackets he likes, and then he goes to his favorite embroidery place for their $25 embroidery special. This man not only can eat, he knows a good deal when he sees one.

Pat Philbin, a.k.a. Pat from Moonachie, is now pacing around the room and I start up a conversation with him. He recently ate a cool 25 hot dogs during the qualifier in Hartford. He didn't win that one, but he hopes to do better at later qualifiers or win a place at Nathan's with a wildcard. He said after eating that many hotdogs he will only eat egg whites for a few days after the contest in order to stop the bloating. When I asked him if he liked ice cream the rotund Philbin replied by saying, "What do you think? Do I look air inflated?" I guess that means yes.

As I'm looking around the room I notice something that looks like it came right out of a 4th grade elementary school room. It's a big sheet of white card stock with facts about ice cream; each fact neatly highlighted with colored construction paper. I ask around and soon find out that it's none other than a Tim "Eater X" Janus creation. It seems he's going to be giving a short presentation before the contest about the things he found while researching "the cream." Stuff like vanilla being the most popular ice cream flavor and what really occurs when people suffer from brain freeze. Fascinating...and I heard a rumor that he now will graduate and be allowed to enter the 5th grade with the rest of his classmates.

A lot of the talk among the eaters seems to be about the dreaded brain freeze: the horrible head pain that comes along with drinking or eating something cold too fast. However, Pat Bertoletti said he's more afraid of chest freeze. He found while practicing for the contest he didn't suffer from head pain as much as chest pain, a burning sensation that made him need to rub his chest for relief. Before the contest I see him eat a few Tums. I'm wondering if he was hoping it might help the chest freeze or just the heartburn?

It seems a lot of people had different ways to make the ice cream go down a little easier. As Crazy Legs approaches his place behind the table he is seen rubbing an unknown substance on to his torso and neck, paying special attention to his belly button. At first glance I think it may just be Vaseline, a Crazy Legs stunt done just for the cameras, but after thinking about it for awhile I think it might have been some sort of heating cream, like Icy Hot or something that would make him feel warmer while ingesting the ice cream. Hmmm...when I asked him what it was after the contest he would only answer by saying it wasn't Vaseline and that he wouldn't comment on what the substance actually was. Everything was on the up-and-up though because Commissioner Hardy was standing right next to Crazy Legs watching closely while all this was going down. After rubbing himself down, Crazy Legs then ingested something that looked like Tabasco sauce from a small bottle.

As Tim approached the table it looked like he drank the same thing as Crazy Legs. Again when asked after the contest both Tim and Crazy Legs wouldn't comment on what they actually drank. The only thing Crazy Legs would say is that Barry Bonds sent it to them. Something tells me it was something closer to Hot Damn than steroids. Tim and Legs weren't only sharing drinks; they also shared the idea to wear latex gloves, followed by a lambskin work glove over top. They did this because neither of them used a spoon during the contest and the gloves were meant to protect them from the cold temperature of the ice cream. However, judging from the pained looks on their faces after the contest I don't think it worked too well. Pat Bertoletti also got into the act of pre-preparing for the contest when I caught him rubbing something on his gums before the contest. When asked afterwards he said it was a Sensodyne type substance he used because when he was practicing for the contest his teeth hurt for about a week afterwards. It seems ice cream takes a lot more preparation than other foods.

Just as the contest looks like it's ready to begin and Rich Shea dons his straw boater hat, I see the holy family of grilled cheeses! It seems the grilled cheese Madonna is making an appearance at the ice cream contest. Thank heavens. After a short presentation by goldenpalace.com, Badlands Booker takes the microphone for, what Shea calls, his first time performing at the Water Club. Something tells me this is the first time any rapper has performed in the dining room. We are also entertained by a short dance performed by Pat Philbin, my favorite part being what he calls "the slug" which is something that looks like the worm, but Philbin just rocks back and forth on his stomach for awhile, sort of like a Weeble wobbling.

A few newcomers were at the table: Andrew Wong a student from Vanderbilt University and Michael Jones from Greenwich CT, as well as Eric Fields an AP reporter who Rich Shea referred to as the George Plimpton of competitive eating, as he was taking part in the contest in order to write an article about the event from a first person point of view. These newcomers had to face a lot of practiced pros, though. Beautiful Brian, who competed in the last ice cream competition five years ago was there to flex some muscle and show the new kids how to do it.

At Hardy's command, "Gentlemen remove your lids," the contest began. There were two prevailing methods for eating. Most contestants used spoons, sometimes employing the Cookie Jarvis method of turning the spoon upside down so the ice cream doesn't come in contact with the upper palate and supposedly cease the brain freeze. Crazy Legs and Tim were the only contestants who ate the ice cream like every 10 year olds dream, with their hands, in great big chunks.

Each container put in front of a contestant contained a half gallon of vanilla ice cream. As the eight minute contest began, Pat Bertoletti was the first contestant to ask for a new container and this bodes well for his chances at winning. The previous ice cream record was held by Cookie Jarvis who ate 1 gallon and 9 ounces in 12 minutes so these contestants have their work cut out for them if they want to break the record. This contest is different as well because these contestants were not allowed to drink hot liquids during the challenge and Commissioner Hardy believes if someone beats Cookie's record it will be a more "legit" win.

We count down from 10 seconds and the contest ends with a flurry of spoons landing on the table. Immediately the contestants look like they are in pain. Tim Janus is holding his ice cream-shoveling hand as his face displays the look of a man on the rack. These guys are not in good shape. They begin shivering and most stand up to try to get the blood pumping. Tim Janus places his reddened hand in water and then pulls out his trusty marathon blanket to warm up.

As the containers are measured by Commissioner Hardy it is discovered that not only has Pat Bertoletti won the contest, but he has broken Cookie's record in less time. The results are as follows:

1st Place - Pat Bertoletti - 1 3/4 gallons
2nd Place - Crazy Legs Conti - 1 1/2 gallons
3rd Place - Tim "Eater X" Janus - 1 1/4 gallons
4th Place - Don Lerman - 123 ounces

As the contestants leave the table, Pat Bertoletti dons his red jacket in hopes to warm up, Don Lerman puts his belt back on, and reporters jockey to interview the winners. Another contest has come to the end only this one is a little different because this is the first contest that most of the press and the trusty EMT David are eating bowls of ice cream as they pack up.

More pictures here!