Hot Peppers

“In addition to offering entertaining reading . . . it no doubt contains more information about the culture, processing and use of red peppers than any other single source.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Entertaining and informative.”-Library Journal

“Schweid is a fine writer, blessed with keen powers of observation . . . but his true forte is in telling the stories of New Iberia’s working-class Cajuns. . . . with compassion and grace. . . . A publishing event to celebrate.”—Southern Register

“Like [John] McPhee, Schweid proves that, for those willing to look, behind the smallest of subjects may lurk a complex, far-reaching story.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

“An informal, eminently readable book.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“This is a very special travel book packed with information and even a few good recipes. There is an ease and charm to Schweid’s reporting, rather like that of Calvin Trillin of the New Yorker.”—Newsday

“My mama, a fine Louisiana Frenchwoman, taught me to cook. She used to say, 'When the Lord made Louisiana, he must have been laughin'. . . . It’s filled with so many wonderful things.' Like the hot peppers that thrive in our rich delta soil, life in Louisiana has a flavor like nowhere else.”—Justin Wilson, Cajun cook and humorist

“An easy-going, easy-reading history, examination, and celebration of the hot peppers grown in the oily, salty soil around New Iberia, La. This biography of a remarkable spice is salted with plenty of fact and anecdote about the Cajun culture of the pepper belt and recipes to tempt the pepperphile.”—Denver Post

“Hot Peppers blends facts, humor and history; its casual but informative narrative style is so enjoyable, one wonders how such a (seemingly) small subject could possibly turn out to be so interesting.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer