The ‘Pope of Peppers’ Pontificates About Peppers on September 16

Dave DeWitt, author and food historian, helps celebrate Cornell Plantations’ Year of the Pepper with a lecture all about, well, peppers. DeWitt’s lecture takes place on Wednesday, September 16 and begins at 7:30 p.m. in Statler Hall Auditorium on Cornell University’s campus.

DeWitt’s lecture, entitled “Blame it on Columbus: Chile Peppers Around the World”, will be a multi-media presentation on how chile peppers circumnavigated the globe in just a century after Columbus brought pods and seeds back to the Old Word from the New in 1493.  

“We are very excited to celebrate peppers in their seemingly infinite variations in size, shape, origins and spice!” stated Sonja Skelly, director of education at Cornell Plantations.  “In addition to the lecture, we have several other programs that are themed around peppers.  First, on Saturday, September 12 we are hosting one of our popular “Garden to Table” culinary programs with Taverina Banfi, the lecture on Wednesday, September, 16; followed by a guided tour of the peppers in Plantations botanic garden with Dave DeWitt on Thursday, September 17;  and we’ll finish up the week with our Family Pepper Party: A Judy’s Day Program on Saturday, September 19 from 1pm to 5pm featuring tastings, dancing, and lots of pepper fun!”

Mr. DeWitt is a food historian and one of the foremost authorities in the world on chile peppers, spices, and spicy foods. He is the author of numerous articles and several books on peppers – most notably The Pepper Garden (gardening guide, 1993), The Hot Sauce Bible (food history/cookbook, 1996), The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia (reference, 1999) The Spicy Food Lover’s Bible (food history, cookbook, 2005). He continues to write books about chile peppers and spicy food, including The Complete Chile Pepper Book (gardening guide/cookbook, 2009), co-authored with Dr. Paul Bosland, the renowned chile pepper breeder at New Mexico State University. He’s made 100’s of apperances on TV, and has also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, USA Today, American Way, Smithsonian, and approximately 300 newspapers and magazines across the country. Publishers Weekly has dubbed him “a veteran spice-meister.” Several years later, Dave received his ultimate accolade from no less than The New York Times that declared him to be “The Pope of Peppers.”

This lecture is free and open to the public.

Click here for the 2015 Fall Lecture lineup.