{"product_id":"chile-pepper-in-china-the-b-dott","title":"The Chile Pepper in China : A Cultural Biography (Brian R. Dott)","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBrian R. Dott explores how the non-native chile went from obscurity to ubiquity in China, influencing not just cuisine but also medicine, language, and cultural identity. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Chile Pepper in China\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e sheds new light on the piquant cultural impact of a potent plant and raises broader questions regarding notions of authenticity in cuisine. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eChinese cuisine without chile peppers seems unimaginable. Entranced by the fiery taste, diners worldwide have fallen for Chinese cooking. In China, chiles are everywhere, from dried peppers hanging from eaves to Mao’s boast that revolution would be impossible without chiles, from the eighteenth-century novel \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDream of the Red Chamber\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e to contemporary music videos. Indeed, they are so common that many Chinese assume they are native. Yet there were no chiles anywhere in China prior to the 1570s, when they were introduced from the Americas.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBrian R. Dott explores how the nonnative chile went from obscurity to ubiquity in China, influencing not just cuisine but also medicine, language, and cultural identity. He details how its versatility became essential to a variety of regional cuisines and swayed both elite and popular medical and healing practices. Dott tracks the cultural meaning of the chile across a wide swath of literary texts and artworks, revealing how the spread of chiles fundamentally altered the meaning of the term \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003espicy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e. He emphasizes the intersection between food and gender, tracing the chile as a symbol for both male virility and female passion. Integrating food studies, the history of medicine, and Chinese cultural history, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Chile Pepper in China\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003esheds new light on the piquant cultural impact of a potent plant and raises broader questions regarding notions of authenticity in cuisine.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39968729104431,"sku":"01CHI1576","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0051\/1954\/1312\/products\/chilepepperinchina.jpg?v=1627082674","url":"https:\/\/nowservingla.live\/products\/chile-pepper-in-china-the-b-dott","provider":"Now Serving","version":"1.0","type":"link"}