The devil's dinner : a gastronomic and cultural history of chili peppers

Stuart Walton's The Devil's Dinner looks at the history of hot peppers, their culinary uses through the ages, and the significance of spicy food in an increasingly homogenous world. The Devil's Dinner is the first authoritative history of chili peppers. There are countless books on cooking with chilies, but no book goes into depth about the biological, gastronomical, and cultural impact this forbidden fruit has had upon people all over the world. The story has been too hot to handle. A billion dollar industry, hot peppers are especially popular in the United States, where a superhot movement is on the rise. Hot peppers started out in Mexico and South America, came to Europe with returning Spanish travelers, lit up Iberian cuisine with piri-piri and pimientos, continued along eastern trade routes, boosted mustard and pepper in cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, then took overland routes to central Europe in the paprika of Hungarian and Austrian dumplings, devilled this and devilled that they've been everywhere! The Devil's Dinner tells the history of hot peppers and captures the rise of the superhot movement. Contents Introduction A Note on Spelling Part One: Biology 1. Our Favorite Spice—All About Chili 2. Apaches, Vipers, and Dragons—Types of Chili Part Two: History 3. Spice of America—The Chili in Its Homelands 4. Three Ships Come Sailing—The Columbian Exchange 5. Blazing a Trail—Chili's Journey Through Asia and Africa 6. "Red and Incredibly Beautiful"—Chili Goes to China 7. From Piri Piri to Paprika—European Variations 8. Bowls o' Red and Chili Queens—An American Affair 9. Pepper Sauce—A Global Obsession 10. Taste and Touch—How Chili Peppers Work Part Three: Culture 11. The Devil's Dinner—Discovering the Dark Side of Chili 12. Hot Stuff—Chilies and Sex 13. Fighting Talk—Weaponized Chili 14. Superhots and Chiliheads—The Cult of Chili 15. Man Food—How Chili Became a Guy Thing 16. The Globalization of Taste—Can Chili Save Us? Acknowledgements Notes Select Bibliography Index Our favorite spice: all about chili Apaches, vipers, and dragons: types of chili Spice of America: the chili in its homelands Three ships come sailing: The Columbian exchange Blazing a trail: Chili's journey through Asia and Africa "Red and incredibly beautiful": chili goes to China From piri piri to paprika: European variations Bowls o' red and chili queens: an American affair Pepper sauce: a global obsession Taste and touch: how chili peppers work The devil's dinner: discovering the dark side of chili Hot stuff: chilies and sex Fighting talk: weaponized chili Superhots and chiliheads: the cult of chili Man food: how chili became a guy thing The globalization of taste: can chili save us?