Re: [CH] Best Chile Books
RADiMenna (RADiMenna@aol.com)
Tue, 27 Jan 1998 20:30:52 EST
>If I had to buy two books on Chiles what should they be?
If I had to pick a single book, it would be Dave DeWitt's The Whole Chile
Pepper Book (ISBN 0-316-18223-0). It lives up to its name, with lots of well-
written info on history and lore, growing, uses in various parts of the world,
recipes and health effects.
In a dead heat for second place would be Peppers: A Story of Hot Pursuits by
Amal Naj (ISBN 0-679-74427-4) and Peppers:The Domesticated Capsicums by Jean
Andrews (ISBN 0-292-70467-04). These are very different. Naj describes his
worldwide quest to understand the attraction of peppers, imparting much wit
and history along the way. He's an excellent writer.
The Andrews book has lovely botanical drawings and the original 1984 version
is the source of much of the history repeated in virtually every chile book
since. I should note that it costs $60 or so (it was on my Christmas list
last year), while the other 2 are less than $20.
Chile Pepper Fever, as others have noted, is great for the photographs. I've
seen it discounted, but the discounted version I saw wasn't printed on glossy
paper, so the pictures didn't have the same impact. There is also a "poster
book" Chile PepperPassion, with 18 x 24 inch posters of 8 of the Eduardo Fuss
photos from the Chile Pepper Fever book. (ISBN 0-06-258538-X). I've only
seen this once, and it was discounted from $20 to $6. I bought it about 2
years ago, so it may not be in print any longer.
Rick