[.ca] The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia: Everything You'll Ever ... (ISBN 0688156118)

Spicy Hot!:
This is a gem from Dave Dewitt the King of ALL Peppers. He knows his stuff about all there is to know about chiles, from mild to the 'insanity' peppers! It goes into great detail about the history of peppers to how to grow them. The book's layout is in an A-Z easy to find guide. The index is very good as well so you can find what you're after. I have made a scrumptious HOT HOT beef curry from this book, just to give you something to make your mouth water. A good addition to your chile book collection or library!

Slightly exaggerated claim.....:
The CHILE PEPPER ENCYCLOPEDIA by Dave DeWitt, should be an encyclopedia, right? I picture an encyclopedia about peppers as a comprehensive book with many sections each illustrated with a colorful photo of the subject. That is not the case with this book, however. DeWitt's encyclopedia is yet another cookbook. He included many recipes which he has organized origin not by dish, or type of pepper. For example, "A" is for Africa and African dishes such as "South African Hot Lamb Curry" which include American peppers and probably originated with natives from India using British lamb. "A" contains a section on 'Aji' peppers (of interest to me), but I did not find the Aji pepper I grow in my garden and want to know more about (Aji Colorado). From Africa, we move onto Amazonia, which digresses into African slaves and Catholic saints. DeWitt is obviously quite knowledgeable about peppers. I just wish his editors could help him get organized. And, pictures of Chinese peasants sorting peppers is interesting, but please add color photos of the peppers or don't call this an encyclopedia about peppers.

Great:
I like this book alot, ofcorse, i do have a thing for Capsicums. This is queit informitive and a genraly fun thing to read.

Great Recipes:
This book is worth it for the recipes alone. There is a great recipe for Chipotle Chile Sauce that I have tried and was great. There are also all sorts of other recipes such as a mole sauce, and even chile-infused vodka! A good variety of recipes from all over the world. The recipes can of course be tweaked so they're not as hot. But if you really don't like spicy food, you're looking at the wrong category of cookbook!

Father's Day Gift:
This book was the perfect Father's Day gift! It is filled with great recipes and secrets to successful pepper-planting!! Thanks for the great gift idea!