Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Dott, Brian Russell, author.

Title The chile pepper in China : a cultural biography / Brian R. Dott
Published New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]

Copies

Description 1 online resource (x, 276 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color), maps
Series Arts and traditions of the table : perspectives on culinary history
Arts and traditions of the table.
Contents Names and places : how the chile found its way "home" to China -- Spicing up the palate -- Spicing up the pharmacopeia -- Too hot for words : elite reticence towards chile peppers -- Chiles as beautiful objects and literary emblems -- Mao's little red spice : chiles and regional identity
Summary "China was introduced to the American chili pepper in the 16th century, and adoption of the foreign crop spread rapidly to fulfill regional needs. While the Chinese were initially unclear on how to incorporate the chili into their diets and how to compare it alongside their native plants (was it like the Sichuan pepper, ginger, eggplant, or black pepper?), the chili and its versatility became so essential to Chinese cuisine and pharmacopeia that it quickly became indigenized and was later used as an example for native plant identification. As the distinction between foreign and indigenous faded, the influence and popularity of the chili grew, redefining the term "spicy" and appearing in a wide variety of literary texts and art. The cultural symbolism surrounding the chili has even tied the pepper to Mao Zedong as revolutionary imagery, and it continues to be used in Chinese pop culture as a symbol of regional and national identity"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 04, 2022)
Subject Hot peppers -- China -- History
Cooking (Hot peppers) -- China -- History
Cooking, Chinese -- History
Food habits -- China -- History
COOKING -- Regional & Ethnic -- Chinese.
COOKING / History
Cooking, Chinese
Cooking (Hot peppers)
Food habits
Hot peppers
China
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019038654
ISBN 9780231551304
0231551304