Customer Reviews

The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like reviewer Davis, the greatest problems I have with this book are the lack of indications of a range of plant sizes and a range of days-to-harvest for the chiles that they deign to cover. They describe the "top hundred (or so) chile peppers for the garden" in fewer than 50 pages (with quite a few excellent photos, though). The amount and type of information given for each chile variety is too variable. For some, but not all entries, you MIGHT find out how big the plant can get, how big the fruit is, what is the heat level (in Scoville units), is it ever a perennial? Both the authors are professors at New Mexico State University. I would be amazed if they would accept a graduate student's thesis with such a degree of inconsistency.

Because they are at NMSU and author Bosland is the Director of the Chile Pepper Institute, I must give credit for their considerably better than usual descriptions of a good number of the "Numex" chiles. For anyone who doesn't know, these were all originally developed at NMSU, with some going back to the late 1800's! (yeah, they have history!) The "Numex" breeding program continues in several directions today.

The cultivation chapter, the longest in the book, is the best. Based on experiences with commercial growers and home gardeners of variable expertise, the book discusses soil preparation and amendments, seed starting and growing on, water issues, too cold, too hot (? surprising!), too little light or too much (again, a surprise). There are some pages on container growing, and just a few hints about hydroponic, aeroponic, and other soil-less grow systems. There is a very good section on diseases and pests. This chapter also includes short sections on chiles as bonsai (yes!) and breeding and hybridizing chiles.

The chapter on processing and preserving chiles has some good points.

The chapter on cooking with chiles should have been left out to make way for a more encyclopedic listing of more varieties of chiles. Get a book written by Diana Kennedy or Rick Bayless if you want recipes.

I've reviewed this book from a library copy and it should probably be recommended to your library if there are many home gardeners in your area. At Amazon's price, I'll probably get a copy for my own library.

this is a good book for those who are not already familiar with chiles (for which "peppers" is a misnomer), have limited gardening experience and/or reference materials, and who want a few recipes wrapped up into a sort of "one stop shopping" text.

it is also a great book for those who wish primarily to concentrate on chile gardening, and who have exhausted more rudimentary texts.

the book offers a modest history of chiles. the cultivation information is pretty extensive and fascinating, and may prove to enhance my gardening experience this season. the canning and preservation sections are very informative, and if you like a sampling of specialty recipes in something other than a cookbook (which i really do not), there are some good looking ones here.

the section actually cataloging individual varieties of chiles left me flat. here dewitt and bosland have listed the "top hundred (or so) chile peppers for the garden", including a brief description of each. the descriptions are often VERY brief, and uninformative. there is no consistency in what can be expected from them, such as quantified heat levels (expressed in "scoville heat units"), flavor characteristics, sizes, expected yields, and typical days to maturity.

the greatest issue i have with this section of the book is the inclusion of only these varieties, leaving out a number of interesting and flavorful chiles, among them hungarians (indeed the only mention of paprika, was in the similarly incomplete "heat scale for chile varieties and commercial products"), and the "fish pepper" (a chesapeake bay favorite). notably, the "peter pepper" IS included, with two sentences ignoring any horticultural, or culinary qualities, and focusing solely on what some might find an unsavory description of its shape and nomenclature (apparently written to enlighten those who might not infer it).

i accept that buying online leaves one with the responsibility for making semi-informed choices and living with them, and that i could have gone to a brick and mortar bookstore, to peruse the contents of this manual. that said, i would have preferred a more exhaustive encyclopedic reference work dealing with the varieties of chiles, and might gladly have purchased as a separate text, the horticultural and preservation information contained herein (the best part of the book). the recipes could have been included in yet another, more extensive specialty cookbook, at a modest price, which i would not have been inclined to put on my shelf.

on the whole, this book is a well illustrated coffee table entertainment, with a 148 page chile horticulture and preservation narrative grafted into the middle of it, and i probably would not have purchased it as it stands, had i leafed through it.

i guess i mainly take exception to the misleading title, as this is certainly not a "complete" chile pepper book.

do not let me stop you from buying it, though- it may be exactly what you are looking for. the gardening and preservation section alone is probably worth the amazon price.

As an amateur gardener, avid cook and, most importantly, a spicy food aficionado, this book really has it all for me. Reading this late in November made me ready to pull out the seed catalogues and start preparing for spring. The authors provide a wealth of information on the subject of chili peppers. The first portion of the book is devoted to gardening. Without turning into a general gardening book, enough basic information is covered to assist the new gardener. I especially appreciated the in-depth description of pepper varieties, both for spring gardening choices, but also for produce shopping.
In addition to a lot of great gardening information and inspirational photography, it provides botanical information, as well. The graphics and charts really contribute to the very readable quality of this book.
But, my favorite part of the book is the recipe section. A number of easy, unusual recipes are included. The pepper infused vodka is so superior to anything you can buy at the store and was a huge hit at Thanksgiving when I used it to make my marinated cherry tomato appetizer! I brought the Double Trouble chocolate truffles to a party and they were the focus of conversation while they lasted! My family's favorites, so far, are Pasta with Green Chile Pesto and Thai Chile and Artichoke Pasta. But, I have a lot more on my list to try. In addition to recipes, a lot of good information is provided on preservation, including candied peppers, salt substitutes, pickling and canning.
A comprehensive glossary, bibliography and resource list provide even more information.
I appreciate having a book in my collection that covers all aspects of peppers. I know where to turn now for gardening questions, and, of course, really interesting recipes!

Complete...well that's a relative term & I'm not sure if it's possible to have a "complete" book in just one volume, unless it was a massive tome! Nonetheless, this IS a very good book containing much information on the subjects described; even though there are only 5 genera of chiles, there are so many species it's hard to cover them all - but DeWitt & Bosland do a remarkable job covering what they set out to do. It's very informative, helpful & has some tasteful recipes included! I would definitely recommend this highly educational and entertaining book to anyone with a "burning interest" in chiles!

I never write reviews but I feel obligated to tip my hat off to these authors and to let any potential buyer that this book is so worth the money!! There is not a better book on peppers out there! It is truly comprehensive and I like the fact that they touch upon the origins if known on many of the common peppers you will see in catalogs.
Why don't you get heavy yield on a ghost pepper plant? Because it is a cross species hybrid and that means it starts out with lots of flowers but then always drops a bunch - not something you can avoid - it is not your ability to grow a healthy plant.
Think you should fertilize your established pepper plants like everything else in your garden??? DON'T!!! It will promote vegetative growth only and drop flowers and immature pods.
If you are serious about growing hot peppers you must have this book!

Hello ! My name is Eli garcia!! .If you guys want to know everything about peppers ,chiles,chiles or ajies!! you have to get this book . It is like the encyclopedia for peppers! you would be a pepper expert!!! enjoy :-))

The Complete Chile Pepper Book by authors Dave DeWitt and Dr. Paul Bosland is an excellent introduction into the history, culture, breeding and processing of peppers. If you already own The Pepper Garden and Peppers of the World by the same authors, than much of the information in this book will be familiar to you. This book brings much of that information together, updates it and places it all in one volume. The cultural practice tips will be useful as well as the sections on breeding and saving your own seed if that is your fancy. Part of the book has a picture and description of the Top 100 peppers from across all five cultivated species that the authors particualrly like for their unique taste, color or growing habit. The last section of the book is the recipes and there are some good ones in there; you must make the classic New Mexico Green Chile Salsa and also the version with fresh red chile! While you are at it, pick up a copy of Salsas that Cook by Rick Bayless for recipes to make some truly fine salsas. I bought my copy of The Complete Chile Pepper Book at the Chile Institute on the NMSU campus and was pleased when I got it home and opened the front cover to find a very nice note from Dr. Bosland.

The content and quality of this book are both superb! If you are at all interested in chile peppers, or cooking in general, this book should be part of your library.

This book is a primer for anyone who wants to get started in growing Chile Peppers. It is well written in relatively plain, easy to understand language. However it is not a be-all-end-all, but it has been a fantastic guide for this neophyte in getting started in understanding the different Chile varieties and their growing and preparation techniques.

The major regret I have is that I didn't buy this book BEFORE buying my chile pepper seeds. It is so jam packed with information about chile peppers that it even helps you decide on a more informed basis which peppers to choose for your garden. I am still happy with the peppers I have chosen to grow, but I will be buying other varieties now because of what I learned so far. For example, I'm thinking of planting a couple of ornamental peppers to beauty up the place and give the birds something to nibble on and leave my other peppers alone.

I have done some extensive researching about chile peppers on the internet before buying this book and found some contradictory information here and there which kind of left me confused. Having one reliable source like this book around is really great, as it addresses a myriad of topics relating to chile peppers. However, I did find that the majority of the information I already knew about the subject from searching the net, was exactly the same as in the book, plus there are some websites that the book refers to that offer more advice and tips regarding specific areas.

The author seems to have a very close association with The Chile Pepper Institute in New Mexico, which is considered like the MIT of chile pepper research. Having ordered my seeds from that same institute, I noticed that one of the authors was talking about each and every type of chile peppers that they offer (plus a couple that they don't), which is an advantage if you plan on growing your own peppers since you can directly look it up in the book, which gives more details about each type of pepper than the website. However, I do agree with other reviews, that they have not included many other types of chile peppers and that does prove a bit disappointing considering it is "the complete" guide.

If you have the slightest interest in chile peppers or are curious about growing them, then this book will take you to the next level. However, for the average gardener, like myself, the book can get a bit too technical, especially in the beginning where it discusses cultivation, but ultimately, it doesn't hurt to go through it and gain some knowledge. The book also contains some recipes and uses for chile peppers, which I have not gotten to yet, in addition to an entire section on diseases that affect chile peppers and how to treat or avoid each type.

The one topic that the book address ineffectively was under the preservation of chile peppers where it describes how to make wreaths, but is not illustrated which makes it almost impossible to do it yourself! That was one of the major disappointments for in this book. I also hoped that the book would shed some light on using liquid tomato food at half concentration to feed the chile plants, as suggested by several websites, but unfortunately it does not.

So far the book has been a real attention grabber for me and I have been hardly been able to put it down and I really look forward to reading it from cover to cover, probably, over and over again. Overall, it is a valuable reference book that every chilehead must have handy!