The Pepper Trail

Andrews, who has been called “the first lady of Chile peppers,” “the godmother of the chile world,” as well as her own registered trademark “The Pepper Lady,” follows the spice trade and early movements of capsicums along the spice roads, through much of Turkey and the Middle East, Africa and Monsoon Asia (India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia) plus the Szechuan and Hunan provinces in China and the Silk Route. This latest offering includes previously undiscovered facts, including the etymology of the word “cayenne.”

The first spice to be used by man, peppers are currently hot in Mexico, Guatemala, much of the Caribbean, most of Africa, parts of south America, India, Bhutan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, southwestern China, the Balkans, the United States–Louisiana, Texas, and the Southwest–plus Korea.

A chapter on what makes a pepper a pepper includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of twenty-seven separate varieties of the Capsicum, as well as miscellaneous cultivars and detailed directions on working with fresh and dried peppers, including how to choose and use them, and how to care for them.

The recipes include those of such nationally known chefs as Mark Miller, Reed Clemons, Miguel Ravago, Stephen Pyles, Jon Jividen, Paula Lambert (Mozzarella Company), Robert del Grande, Pat Teepatiganond, Cecilia Chiang, Elmar E. Prambs, Jerry di Vecchio, Paul Prudhomme, Dean Fearing, Amal Naj, Justin Wilson, and John Ash, among many others.