The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia: Everything Youªll Ever Need to Know About Hot Peppers, With More Than 100 Recipes [Paperback]

Dave Dewitt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0756754038 | ISBN-13: 978-0756754037 | Publication Date: July 2003

The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia has the answer to just about any question one could ask about chile peppers. Which chiles are the hottest? What country did the first chile plants come from? What popular brand of dandruff shampoo is made with chile peppers? Can chiles really be used to cure headaches? Even the most devoted "chile-heads" will be satisfied. The encyclopedia is researched and written by Dave Dewitt, the country's foremost expert on hot and spicy foods and longtime editor-in-chief of Chile Pepper magazine.

In addition to entries on chile species, culture, terminology, and agriculture, the encyclopedia includes more than one hundred fiery recipes like Madras Fried Chile Fritters from India and Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wings are sure to please any hot-and-spicy food lover. Black and white drawings and photographs, charts, and graphs appear throughout, and an eight page insert includes color photographs of dozens of varieties of chiles, invaluable for identification. The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia is an indispensable sourcebook for chile aficionados, gardeners, cooks, and anyone else who has a burning interest in fiery foods.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From Thailand to Mexico, chile peppers play an important role in culinary culture. Recognizing the growing interest in the capsicum, as the genus is called, DeWitt?editor for nine years of Chile Pepper magazine and co-author of numerous books, including The Hot Sauce Bible (LJ 5/15/96)?has written an informative book that will answer all kinds of questions about chile peppers. Entries, many of which are flavored with the author's piquant wit, are arranged alphabetically for easy access and range from a sentence to ten pages in length. From pod types to which beverages go best with chile peppers, nothing seems to have been left out. A scattering of various pepper statistics, an appendix devoted to pepper resources, and a variety of chile pepper recipes all spice up this delightful title. Suitable for both circulating and reference collections, this is recommended for all libraries.?John Charles, Scottsdale
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

The explosion of interest in chile peppers in North America has coincided with an influx of new citizens from south of the border and from Asian lands where chile peppers are a part of everyday eating. Now they're a common part of the American diet, thanks to their appearance in salsas and atop subs. DeWitt takes the mystery out of the many kinds of peppers in his alphabetical guide to the hundreds of varieties of this piquant seed pod. Peppers vary widely in the degree of heat they produce, and they can be classified by their individual shapes as well. DeWitt's essays on the history of chile peppers make for informative reading. Recipes illustrate the various uses of chile peppers, from meaty stuffed peppers to a fish rendered fiery with the merest teaspoon of chopped fresh habanero pepper. A useful addition to cooking reference collections. Mark Knoblauch --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Diane Pub Co (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756754038
• ISBN-13: 978-0756754037
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,657,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slightly exaggerated claim....., July 4, 2004

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia: Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About Hot Peppers, With More Than 100 Recipes (Paperback)

The CHILE PEPPER ENCYCLOPEDIA by Dave DeWitt, should be an encyclopedia, right? I picture an encyclopedia about peppers as a comprehensive book with many sections each illustrated with a colorful photo of the subject. That is not the case with this book, however. DeWitt's encyclopedia is yet another cookbook. He included many recipes which he has organized origin not by dish, or type of pepper.

For example, "A" is for Africa and African dishes such as "South African Hot Lamb Curry" which include American peppers and probably originated with natives from India using British lamb. "A" contains a section on `Aji' peppers (of interest to me), but I did not find the Aji pepper I grow in my garden and want to know more about (Aji Colorado). From Africa, we move onto Amazonia, which digresses into African slaves and Catholic saints.

DeWitt is obviously quite knowledgeable about peppers. I just wish his editors could help him get organized. And, pictures of Chinese peasants sorting peppers is interesting, but please add color photos of the peppers or don't call this an encyclopedia about peppers.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent book, but not what I would call an Encyclopedia, January 9, 2007

By 

KnightCross (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia: Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About Hot Peppers, With More Than 100 Recipes (Paperback)

I purchased this book with hopes of having some detailed information and color pictures of about most of the major types of peppers out there. That is not in this book.

As a book goes, it's a fairly decent book, plenty of interesting information about peppers, recipes, information about different types, South American cultures and so on, but the photos are only black and white, and no detailed photos of peppers or plants are in the book. I think that calling it an encyclopedia was a misnomer.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Book should be called the History of Peppers, With Receipes!, October 18, 2004

By 

K. Crabtree (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia: Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About Hot Peppers, With More Than 100 Recipes (Paperback)

This books gives a history of peppers, not a cooking encyclopedia. I think the editors realized this so they threw in receipes as an after thought. When I first opened opened up the book I anticipating to see titles of chapters on different kinds of peppers, preparation, growing, cooking techniques etc...instead i got a history of several species of peppers that frankly didnt interest me.
I guess I will have to write a true pepper cooking encyclopedia book myself.