Tonight, prepare to meet Hannah Hart — a riotous food and drink-loving enthusiast. On her new series I Hart Food, this intrepid soul brings her humor to various epicurious travels in a bid to get us all expanding our menus.
Like it hot? In the premiere episode tonight, Hannah goes to hot Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the chilies reign supreme.
Hart peels back the skin to uncover Santa Fe’s fiery fixation with green and red chilies of all varieties.
Mexican staples like cheese stuffed chile relleno are demonstrated by Matt Romero, a former chef turned farmer who’s made picking peppers his life obsession. We even get to see a twist on the American burger all smothered in chilies.
Hannah goes to a Santa Fe farmers’ market with Romero as the chef tutors her in all things peppers, or “chilies” as they are called south of the border.
Matt tells Hannah that “genetics” are what makes a pepper hot. Hart then educates viewers on the Scoville scale and how peppers are rated for heat.
The series of half-hour episodes follows Hart as she traverses America finding amazing local dishes and engaging in fun regional conversations.
She also explores the legends and lore of all regional food fixations. Crustaceans more your bag? Hart will head to New England in a future episode based in Maine for the best lobsters you can pluck from the sea with bare hands.
In upcoming episodes, Hannah also heads to Asheville, North Carolina, Eugene, Oregon, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Missoula, Montana.
I Hart Food airs tonight, Monday, August 14 at 10/9c on Food Network.