Hot Peppers

Richard Schweid is a journalist and author who lives in Barcelona, Spain. His other books include Catfish and the Delta: Confederate Fish Farming in the Mississippi Delta, Barcelona: Jews, Transvestites, and an Olympic Season, and The Cockroach Papers.
For more information about Richard Schweid, visit the Author Page.

"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."--The Southern Register

"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] 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

"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 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