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

By Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland

The most definitive, interesting, and enlightening book on peppers ever penned.

Rick Browne, host of the PBS series Barbeque America

Chile peppers are hot — in every sense of the word. They add culinary fire to thousands of dishes from a variety of cuisines and inspire near-fanatical devotion in those who have succumbed to their incendiary charms. In this comprehensive book, world chile experts Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland have assembled all the information that anyone with an interest in chile peppers could ever hope to find.

Detailed profiles of the 100 most popular chile varieties include information on how to grow chiles; how to diagnose and remedy problems, pests, and diseases; and post-harvest processing and preservation.

The book culminates in 85 mouth-watering recipes that make brilliant use of both the characteristic heat of chile peppers and of their more subtle flavor qualities.

Want to know what the hottest chile pepper in the world is? You'll find it in the fascinating story of 'Bhut Jolokia', acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the fieriest chile on earth. Confused about the identity of those chile peppers you bought? The authors' clear photographs and precise descriptions will clear up the mystery. The Complete Chile Pepper Book is the only guide to chiles you'll ever need. It's a scorcher.

Visit the authors' Web site, Fiery-Foods.com, for recipes, articles, and more information on chile peppers.

Filed under: food plants, genus specific, botany, care, cultivation, food, garden design, instructional, natural history, pests and diseases, plant directory, recipes, vegetables

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336 pp.
Book dimensions: 8¼ x 8¼ in. (210 x 210 mm.)
Images: 273 color photos, 9 drawings
ISBN-10: 0881929204
ISBN-13: 9780881929201
Product code: 682920

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Media reviews

"A narrow topic, you say? Not with the 100 top varieties covered and 85 convincing reasons for embracing more than just our beloved jalapenos and serranos."

—Renee Enna, Chicago Tribune

"A must-have for chile lovers and a great gift, packed with fun chile facts, recipes, tips for growing and preserving, and a list of the top 100 chile peppers for gardeners."

—S. Derrickson Moore, Las Cruces Sun-News

"A nicely done work that will fit well within any culinary or gardening collection and will appeal to both the novice and the expert gardener. Recommended."

—Lisa Ennis, Library Journal

"This book will be the standard reference on chile peppers for a long time to come. I give it my three-chile rating, which translates as hot-hot-hot."

—Jim McCausland, Fresh Dirt blog

About the authors

Dave DeWitt

A foremost international expert on capsicums, Dave DeWitt has written or coauthored more than 30 books on peppers and has edited two magazines on the subject. Dave is a board member of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, chair of the board of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, and an adjunct associate professor at New Mexico State University.

Paul W. Bosland

Paul W. Bosland appeared in Guinness World Records of 2006 for discovering the world's hottest chile pepper, "Bhut Jolokia". Paul leads the chile pepper breeding and genetic research program at NMSU where he directs the university's Chile Pepper Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in plant breeding and plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.