The Great Chile Book [Paperback]

Mark Miller (Author), John Harrisson (Author), Lois Ellen Frank (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1991

The COYOTE CAFE cookbook was a howling success that spawned a wonderful pair of posters created by Mark Miller. This full-color handbook presents an expansion of the posters' information in book form, covering 100 chiles (50 each of fresh and dried), each with a color photograph, hotness scale, and brief description. THE GREAT CHILE BOOK also includes background information, an introduction to the use of chiles in the cuisines of Mexico and the Southwest, and delicious recipes from the kitchen of the Coyote Cafe. This is a treasured guide for kitchen and market, and a visually stunning companion to COYOTE CAFE.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Two new books from dedicated chile lovers. DeWitt is coeditor of The Whole Chile Pepper magazine and author of The Whole Chile Pepper Book ( LJ 11/15/90), among others. This latest collection grew out of a column in the magazine featuring chefs around the country. Here are 140 chile-based recipes from restaurants of all types, from taco joints to the elegant Mansion on Turtle Creek, and inspired by cuisines from Thai to West Indian to Tex-Mex. Spicy food has gained many devotees, but the number of books on the subject is multiplying; for larger collections. Miller is chef/owner of Santa Fe's Coyote Cafe and author of Coyote Cafe ( LJ 2/15/90). His new book is an important resource for all those fans of chile dishes, for it is a fully illustrated guide to more than 90 fresh and dried chiles. Most recent spicy foods cookbooks include brief chile glossaries, but Miller's descriptions and Frank's full-color photographs should make identification easy for any cook confronted with the wide variety of chiles now available. Recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

MARK MILLER is the acclaimed chef-founder of Coyote Caf?© in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the author of nine books with nearly 1 million copies in print, including THE GREAT CHILE BOOK, THE GREAT SALSA BOOK, and COYOTE CAF?â. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
JOHN HARRISSON has co-authored cookbooks with many of America’s leading chefs, including Mark Miller, Roy Yamaguchi, and Hubert Keller. He lives in Hawaii.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (December 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898154286
• ISBN-13: 978-0898154283
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Herbs, Spices & Condiments

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What kind of chile is that?, January 11, 2001

By 

Enrique Torres "Rico" (San Diegotitlan, Califas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Great Chile Book (Paperback)

A fabulous resource book for the chile head or novice seeking knowledge. The book is limited on the written word except for a brief survey. The survey gives you all the general information needed for the average person interested in cooking with heat. The strength of this book lies in it's beautiful color photographs that are the actual size of the chile itself. This book serves a number of purposes, one of which is the identification of the various closely related strands od chiles. Probably the most commonly known chile is the jalepen~o but there are variations. One is knnown as huachinango that originates from Oaxaca and the Puebla region. I was able to identify the huachinango chile from my garden after first thinking it was an ordinary jalapen~o. Turns out they have a distinct "sweetness" and are a highly prized, (translation, they cost 3-4 times more) and are used to make "chipotle grande" in it's dried form. There are a few chiles that are exotic and unfamiliar to most people outside of the area of origin. There is a section showing four different types of the ever growing in popularity habanero. The dried chile section is informative and provides helpful hints in curing your own chiles. There is a small receipe section that compliments the chile heads kitchen. To round it all out there is a source of information with addresses and phone numbers for chile seeds and fresh and dried chiles. A handy little book for the amateur grower of chiles or cook who on occasion forays into the kitchen to serve up some heat.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding PHOTO/REFERENCE/GUIDE Book, June 26, 2005

By 

Susan "Writer/Photographer" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Chile Book (Paperback)

I'll tell you what this great little book IS.....not what it isn't.

1.....This GUIDE BOOK rates each chili with a 1-10 temperature scale. Thank you, Mark Miller!!! Why didn't someone do this a long time ago? (In a neat, concise format, that is.) Did you know that bell peppers have a rating of zero? Poblanos rate a 3.....jalapenos a 5.5.....and those smokin' habaneros top the charts with a big fat 10!

2.....This PICTURE BOOK beautifully portrays every chili, both fresh and dried, with a bright, colorful, professional photo. I've taken this book grocery shopping to help identify the type of chile I'm buying because grocers don't always give us a name.

3.....This REFERENCE BOOK is an essential guide to identifying chilis...something every cook needs. At a glance the reader sees why Peruvian peppers aren't the best choice for filling with chorizo and rice. We must know what a habanero looks like (and why it doesn't belong in the tossed salad, or in the soup, or the casserole...or almost anything else). This book identifies all the choices that won't scald your tongue...and also those that might.

4.....This INFORMATIVE BOOK offers history, guidance, personal experience and opinion. Lay this on your coffee table to educate your friends and to inspire some "hot conversation." Everyone has a good pepper story to tell........"You think jalapenos are hot? Let me tell you about the time when..."

5.....As an ADDED BONUS...some great basic/authentic recipes are included. Mango-habanero sauce (So that's where those trouble-makers go!)..... guajillo salsa..... chipotles in adobe sauce..... mole amarillo..... spicy grilled shrimp and melon salad..... pipian rojo..... a total of seventeen wonderful recipes.

Mark Miller urges the cook to focus on the flavor and not the heat...ha ha ha. Well, he's probably not kidding, since he's worked with chiles for over 30 years. Maybe I can focus on the flavor of everything below a 7 on the heat scale, and there are many of those to choose from. Because of this book, I can now discuss the merits of poblanos versus those of anaheims, and I can identify any "capsicum" in the world if that need arises. I can definitely choose with confidence from the produce section. All in all, "The Great Chile Book" offers ACCESSIBLE and VALUABLE information that every cook needs to know.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of recipes....., July 4, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: The Great Chile Book (Paperback)

The GREAT CHILE BOOK by Mark Miller is not nearly as great as his SALSA BOOK. Miller includes many colorful photos of chiles, but this book is no encyclopedia. Furthermore, although I found the book interesting, I also found it difficult to use. He divides the text into `fresh chiles' and `dried chiles' followed by a few pages of recipes, but rather than see the same chile shown over and over on several different pages in it's green, red, fresh and dried stages, I would have preferred to have seen various peppers in the same family clustered together so that I could learn to distinguish among them. In his brief overview he explains the origins of the chile pepper -- that it is not in the family that produces the black peppercorn (piper nigrum) but rather all chiles are descended from a South American plant that was dispersed by birds and then cultivated and spread further by humans.

Miller's recipe section, which he describes as a good cross-section of various chile dishes, includes one for Jalepeno ketchup. Now that should wake up any hot dog!! Most interesting, however, is the recipe for Mole Roja, from the Oaxaca and Puebla area of Mexico known as the `Land of the Seven Moles.' Miller explains that some moles contain no chocolate (this one does, however, as well as dried plums or cherries to enhance the flavor of the ancho and mulatto chile peppers). Mole Roja is best served with fowl such as turkey. So, try this instead of cranberry sauce next Thanksgiving!