Some Like It Hot: Spicy Favorites from the World's Hot Zones for $11.00

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I'm far from tabloid or Google-search notoriety, but my friends know that I have a scandalous reputation for a tough love of chiles. I've studied them, grown them, and cook up a storm with them. I have a warning sign posted on my door, and the folks who are brave enough to cross my shameful threshold are guaranteed a unique and delicious meal. I prided myself in being a hot food expert ... until I found "Some Like It Hot", by Clifford A. Wright.
How can one man, who is apparently also an authority on many other subjects (James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award winner for his A Mediterranean Feast and author of 11 other cookbooks) find the time to become a better chile expert than I? Well, I don't know the answer to how ... but he has.
You tap into the spicy vein of the world with this book. Mr. Wright's charming and informative introductions to each recipe are vivid travel logs ... including history and serving suggestions. I found the whimsical HOTNESS Scale to be very helpful in choosing my dinner guests (Piquant, Incendiary, Blistering, Molten, and Thermonuclear).
A few of Clifford's recipes include authentic ingredients, and could be challenging for the average American palate, and although I can't say I loved them all, I enjoyed the experience ... similar to how I felt about my first (and last) bungee jump. Stimulating and exhilarating!
The recipes I DO love include: a very satisfying Pumpkin Stew with Chiles and Cheese (Incendiary), the tangy Mango Rice (Blistering), rich and luscious Chicken in Green Coconut Sauce (Thermonuclear), and the feisty Spicy Shrimp with Aji Sauce (Molten).
Some Like It Hot includes a good selection of vegetarian dishes, as well as a section filled with Cool Accompaniments.
I strongly recommend this book, certainly for my fellow chile heads out there, but also for meat-and-potato sector. Mr. Wright guides the "tender mouths" very gently. He notes that you "... can no more plunge into chile-hot food than you can a swimming pool without knowing how to swim. You must start slowly and build up your tolerance for hot foods."
Of course ... I didn't bother with that advice. I jumped right in, and so glad I did ... but, I'm an expert, remember?

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"Some Like It Hot: Spicy Favorites from the World's Hot Zones" Overview

If you are one of those spicy-food lovers who constantly strives to test your heat capacity -- or if you're just one of those people who really appreciates the nuances of piquant cuisines, this fun and feisty collection of recipes is for you. Author Cliff Wright has followed the equator in search of authentically spicy dishes, and he recreates them here with Meat-Stuffed Chiles from Peru, Chile Verde from New Mexico, "Tablecloth Stainer" from Oaxaca, Egusi Soup from Nigeria, "Sauce that Dances" from Algeria, Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup from Thailand, "Ants Climbing a Tree" from China, and about 300 more deliciously fiery foods. Each recipe has a heat index, so you know what's going to be subtly spicy and what's truly incendiary. If you are looking for that next "hot" thing, this is where you'll find it.

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Cooking, Food & Wine