num_pages: 128
description: There are some of us who cant even stand to look at themand others who cant live without chillies have been searing tongues and watering eyes for centuries in innumerable global cuisines. In this book Heather Arndt Anderson explores the many ways nature has attempted to take the roofs of our mouths offfrom the deceptively vegetal-looking jalapeno to the fire-red ghost pepperand the many ways we have gleefully risen to the challenge. Anderson tells the story of the spicy berrys rise to prominence showing that it was cultivated and venerated by the ancient people of Mesoamerica for millennia before Spanish explorers brought it back to Europe. She traces the chillis spread along trading routes to every corner of the globe and she explores the many important spiritual and cultural links that we have formed with it from its use as an aphrodisiac to in more modern times an especially masochistic kind of eating competition. Ultimately she uses the chili to tell a larger story of global trade showing how the spread of spicy cuisine can tell us much about the global exchangeand sometimes dominationof culture. Mixing history botany and cooking this entertaining read will give your bookshelf just the kick it needs. 
language: English
title: Chillies: A Global History
publisher: Reaktion Books