What do you think?
Rate this book
The Field Guide to Peppers
The essential guide for pepper enthusiasts!
A little spice can really take a meal to the next level—but with so many peppers to choose from, how do you pick one capsicum from another? In The Field Guide to Peppers , Dave DeWitt and Janie Lamson give expert advice on popular varieties like ancho, cayenne, jalapeño, serrano, and more. The 400 profiles in this fiery guide include all the major types of peppers, and each page features a color photograph along with all the details a pepperhead needs to common name, origin, source, pod length and width, plant height, color, harvest, and heat level, ranging from sweet to superhot.
A little spice can really take a meal to the next level—but with so many peppers to choose from, how do you pick one capsicum from another? In The Field Guide to Peppers , Dave DeWitt and Janie Lamson give expert advice on popular varieties like ancho, cayenne, jalapeño, serrano, and more. The 400 profiles in this fiery guide include all the major types of peppers, and each page features a color photograph along with all the details a pepperhead needs to common name, origin, source, pod length and width, plant height, color, harvest, and heat level, ranging from sweet to superhot.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2015
15 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Dave DeWitt
86 books23 followersThe New York Times calls this author "The Pope of Peppers" and TV viewers recognize Dave DeWitt as the ever-affable chile pepper expert and organizer of Albuquerque's huge annual National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show. Dave is also the author of more than 40 food related books, including the best-selling "The Complete Chile Pepper Book," "The Southwest Table," and the forthcoming "Growing Medical Marijuana."
National TV appearances include "American Journal," Cable News Network, "The Today Show," "Home with Gary Collins," "Scientific American Frontiers," "Smart Solutions," and "CBS Sunday Morning." He has also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, American Way, Smithsonian, and approximately 200 newspapers across the country.
Now, the world's authority on the Southwest's hottest food turns his attention to New Mexicos most compelling and legendary historical figures--the rag-tag group of Apache warriors led by an elderly gentleman set on avenging the death of Victorio--and those who pursued them, the officers and buffalo soldiers of the U.S. Army's Ninth Cavalry as told in Dave's novel "Avenging Victorio."
The people, the story and the settings are real; DeWitt poured through endless documentation in the form of military records, old photos, newspaper clippings, letters and other correspondence to piece together the facts. Then, drawing on his background as a university professor of composition and literature-- plus his almost uncanny grasp and sensibility of Apache customs, traditions, rituals (and humor) -- DeWitt has woven a fast-paced and engaging saga. Click here for more information."
National TV appearances include "American Journal," Cable News Network, "The Today Show," "Home with Gary Collins," "Scientific American Frontiers," "Smart Solutions," and "CBS Sunday Morning." He has also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, American Way, Smithsonian, and approximately 200 newspapers across the country.
Now, the world's authority on the Southwest's hottest food turns his attention to New Mexicos most compelling and legendary historical figures--the rag-tag group of Apache warriors led by an elderly gentleman set on avenging the death of Victorio--and those who pursued them, the officers and buffalo soldiers of the U.S. Army's Ninth Cavalry as told in Dave's novel "Avenging Victorio."
The people, the story and the settings are real; DeWitt poured through endless documentation in the form of military records, old photos, newspaper clippings, letters and other correspondence to piece together the facts. Then, drawing on his background as a university professor of composition and literature-- plus his almost uncanny grasp and sensibility of Apache customs, traditions, rituals (and humor) -- DeWitt has woven a fast-paced and engaging saga. Click here for more information."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 23, 2015
Dave DeWitt has been working with peppers for decades, is the founder of Chile Pepper magazine, and has been dubbed “The Pope of Peppers”. Jamie Lamson is the “Chile Goddess”, and the owner of ChilePlants.com, which grows 500 varieties of hot and sweet peppers and ships plants in spring and fresh chilies in September. This duo is uniquely suited to write the definitive book on peppers.
The book covers the five main domesticated species of peppers; Capsicum annuum has a number of subsets such as jalapenos, Europeans, pimentos, wax, Asians, and bells so that section is subdivided. Did you know that there are 27 different named cultivars of cayenne peppers alone? Each entry has a color photograph, the cultivar name, where the pepper first came into cultivation, the size of the plant and of the pod, the time to harvest, and the heat level. Here’s the only problem I have with the book: they give the heat levels by ‘mild, medium, hot,” etc instead of the Scoville units for the peppers. There is a chart that tells what the range of Scoville units is for each category, but still, ‘Medium’ covers 2500 to 10,000 Scoville units and that’s a heck of a range. I’d prefer to see the actual SHU for each pepper. Some entries also have comments about the pepper, such as uses in cuisine, growing tips, etc.
I think it’s a great book; I get so confused looking over huge sections of pepper seeds and wondering how they compare to each other. This book will unravel a lot of that confusion. This would be a great reference for the chilehead on your holiday gift giving list.
The book covers the five main domesticated species of peppers; Capsicum annuum has a number of subsets such as jalapenos, Europeans, pimentos, wax, Asians, and bells so that section is subdivided. Did you know that there are 27 different named cultivars of cayenne peppers alone? Each entry has a color photograph, the cultivar name, where the pepper first came into cultivation, the size of the plant and of the pod, the time to harvest, and the heat level. Here’s the only problem I have with the book: they give the heat levels by ‘mild, medium, hot,” etc instead of the Scoville units for the peppers. There is a chart that tells what the range of Scoville units is for each category, but still, ‘Medium’ covers 2500 to 10,000 Scoville units and that’s a heck of a range. I’d prefer to see the actual SHU for each pepper. Some entries also have comments about the pepper, such as uses in cuisine, growing tips, etc.
I think it’s a great book; I get so confused looking over huge sections of pepper seeds and wondering how they compare to each other. This book will unravel a lot of that confusion. This would be a great reference for the chilehead on your holiday gift giving list.
July 17, 2020
I love peppers and this is the book that shows all the world varietals. Made my mouth water. Now to track down the sauces.
April 22, 2018
Expected more distinctive comments on each variant of peppers, but it feels more like a dump of a chili pepper database with very basic information.
And there are errors too. Shishito pepper appears in red in this book but in reality it is consumed when it is green as you can see at Trader's Joe or other these days. Maybe the author wanted to show shishito pepper can be red but then he should have stated so in the note. This suggests me that there could be more errors but I just don't know enough about peppers to notice them.
It's one thing to browse through the beautiful pictures of peppers page after page, but there's almost nothing more than that. The book is more a photo album than a field guide.
Probably all this could be editorial problems. This book could have been much better, if it were directed in a way that the author drew more from his knowledge and experience. Another problem I would attribute to the editor is the index. It's like it was added just because the editor thought it was obligatory and wasn't really eager about helping the reader with useful index items. Bad index (or lack of one at all) is an indicator of editorial negligence in this kind of books.
And there are errors too. Shishito pepper appears in red in this book but in reality it is consumed when it is green as you can see at Trader's Joe or other these days. Maybe the author wanted to show shishito pepper can be red but then he should have stated so in the note. This suggests me that there could be more errors but I just don't know enough about peppers to notice them.
It's one thing to browse through the beautiful pictures of peppers page after page, but there's almost nothing more than that. The book is more a photo album than a field guide.
Probably all this could be editorial problems. This book could have been much better, if it were directed in a way that the author drew more from his knowledge and experience. Another problem I would attribute to the editor is the index. It's like it was added just because the editor thought it was obligatory and wasn't really eager about helping the reader with useful index items. Bad index (or lack of one at all) is an indicator of editorial negligence in this kind of books.
June 23, 2020
This is an interesting book, though not as helpful as expected. On the plus side, there are nice write-ups about each family of peppers and well done photographs of each individual variety, but on the downside there is not enough information to help readers choose which peppers they personally would like to try or grow. In short, while there is specific information like the size of peppers and plants, there isn't enough specific information for a consumer to really know the difference between the various peppers. Still, this was an interesting read.
February 12, 2021
Now I want try try each of the varieties described herein.
October 15, 2015
Why are peppers so fascinating? You don't see this many books written on squash or tomatoes. Heck, more than 30 books on peppers have been written by the author of this book alone.
Is it the variety? The color? The flavor? The heat?
I thought this book seemed pretty exhaustive in identifying the many, many, many types of peppers. But no, they are sticking to only the most popular 400 varieties. Good grief. I knew there were many different types of peppers, but had no idea there were so many varieties and shapes.
It includes some good tips on growing them, and where you can order them from. There's even a brief history on each type of pepper.
But really, I think what makes this book is the set of gorgeous pictures of these 400 varieties. This book shows 14 different varieties of jalapeño alone. Is this why you sometimes get very hot jalapeños and sometimes very mild?
It's really interesting to see the evolution of heat. From when habaneros were listed as the hottest pepper in 2006, after which the ghost pepper took the title. Then the scorpion pepper. And now there are even newer, hotter peppers. The point of which I cannot imagine.
And there's lots of learning to be had! I didn't know paprika came from peppers. Or that the pimento in olives comes from a specific type of pepper.
One comment on the book. I think they may have mixed up the colors for the heat levels on page 17. Here it shows very hot as red and extremely hot as pink. But these colors seem reversed in the rest of the book.
I think this would be great for the library of pepper aficionados, as good info for anyone interested in growing peppers, or even as a pretty coffee book table.
Thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Is it the variety? The color? The flavor? The heat?
I thought this book seemed pretty exhaustive in identifying the many, many, many types of peppers. But no, they are sticking to only the most popular 400 varieties. Good grief. I knew there were many different types of peppers, but had no idea there were so many varieties and shapes.
It includes some good tips on growing them, and where you can order them from. There's even a brief history on each type of pepper.
But really, I think what makes this book is the set of gorgeous pictures of these 400 varieties. This book shows 14 different varieties of jalapeño alone. Is this why you sometimes get very hot jalapeños and sometimes very mild?
It's really interesting to see the evolution of heat. From when habaneros were listed as the hottest pepper in 2006, after which the ghost pepper took the title. Then the scorpion pepper. And now there are even newer, hotter peppers. The point of which I cannot imagine.
And there's lots of learning to be had! I didn't know paprika came from peppers. Or that the pimento in olives comes from a specific type of pepper.
One comment on the book. I think they may have mixed up the colors for the heat levels on page 17. Here it shows very hot as red and extremely hot as pink. But these colors seem reversed in the rest of the book.
I think this would be great for the library of pepper aficionados, as good info for anyone interested in growing peppers, or even as a pretty coffee book table.
Thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 21, 2015
If you're looking to grow peppers in any kind of environment, this book would be perfect. I requested it in the hopes that I would find the best peppers for making certain foods because you should know I take my chips and salsa very seriously.
While they did mention which peppers would be good for specific foods i.e. Curry, Excellent in salads, moles, etc. it wasn't exactly what I was looking for and yet it also gave me a lot more than I was looking for! The authors both have a vast history dealing with peppers, but I learned the most from Janie Lamson who has been growing peppers since the 90's.
The number of peppers readily available is so numerous, at times I was overwhelmed with the options, but with those options come so many different outcomes.
You find out that Lamson has a website that you can order all of these plants from so you can grow your own and know you'll be getting a very good product.
When I asked my dad, the hot food connoisseur, which pepper he would like to know more about he said the Guajillo so I was thrilled to see that one in The Field Guide to Peppers!
I loved having this digitally because you can type in the pepper you're looking for and it finds the pages it's on. I do think I'll still get my dad a physical copy once it comes out because he'll get more use out of it than I will.
I was provided with a copy of The Field Guide to Peppers in exchange for my honest review.
While they did mention which peppers would be good for specific foods i.e. Curry, Excellent in salads, moles, etc. it wasn't exactly what I was looking for and yet it also gave me a lot more than I was looking for! The authors both have a vast history dealing with peppers, but I learned the most from Janie Lamson who has been growing peppers since the 90's.
The number of peppers readily available is so numerous, at times I was overwhelmed with the options, but with those options come so many different outcomes.
You find out that Lamson has a website that you can order all of these plants from so you can grow your own and know you'll be getting a very good product.
When I asked my dad, the hot food connoisseur, which pepper he would like to know more about he said the Guajillo so I was thrilled to see that one in The Field Guide to Peppers!
I loved having this digitally because you can type in the pepper you're looking for and it finds the pages it's on. I do think I'll still get my dad a physical copy once it comes out because he'll get more use out of it than I will.
I was provided with a copy of The Field Guide to Peppers in exchange for my honest review.
May 2, 2016
I enjoyed the variety, detailed descriptions, historical notes & the high quality photos included in this book. It was also well organized, with clearly demarcated sections & an aesthetically pleasing format.
The only other thing that I would have liked would be photos and descriptions of the dried forms of the chilies, when they are commonly consumed in the dried form.
The only other thing that I would have liked would be photos and descriptions of the dried forms of the chilies, when they are commonly consumed in the dried form.
May 27, 2016
A handy reference for the 400 most common varieties of pepper with useful notes on growing time, how to best use peppers (for stuffing, salsas, canning, etc.). I did feel like this was sort of like a catalog for coauthor Jamie's website/nursery, but they also included a list of other growers to get seeds/plants from at the end too.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews