“An authoritative but eminently readable work. . . . An 
essential purchase.”—Library Journal


“Jean Andrews blazes a delicious pepper trail with a lot of 
research.”—Southern Living


“Jean has written the definitive book on the fascinating 
story of chiles and their history. Cooks, gardeners, food 
historians, and anyone interested in food and flavor will 
find this book an essential read.”—Mark Miller, Coyote 
Cafe, The Great Chile Book, and Coyote’s Southwest 
Pantry


“[The Pepper Trail] has added a new dimension to our 
knowledge of peppers and coupled that awareness with a 
plethora of interesting recipes designed to treat the palate 
to the gastronomical delights of chili peppers.”—Hardy 
Eshbaugh, Professor, Miami University


“. . . covers the history of peppers as a food and showcases 
dishes—from soups and salads to desserts—incorporating the 
pepper from almost every ethnic cuisine.”—Modern Maturity


“Andrews has produced an entirely new look at [peppers] from a 
culinary viewpoint. . . . [with] recipes from more than fifty 
contributors.”—Gourmet


Veteran afficionados and newcomers on the pepper trail will 
enjoy this stunning expanded version of Jean Andrew’s classic 
Red Hot Peppers, published by Macmillan. 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.


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JEAN ANDREWS is a distinguished alumna from the University of 
North Texas, where she received her Ph.D., and from the 
University of Texas at Austin where she received a B.S. and was 
also named to the Hall of Honor of the College of Natural 
Sciences. Named to Who’s Who in Food and Wine in Texas, 
Andrews also is author and illustrator of American Wildflower 
Florilegium, as well as numerous books and articles on 
peppers, wildflowers, and shells. She lives in Austin, Texas.