[CH] 19th & Early To Mid 20th Century Chili References
Wesley Dean (WDean@cvm.tamu.edu)
Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:32:27 -0500
Dear Chile Heads,
I've been lurking off and on this list serve for many years and I'd
like to ask you for your help with a project I'm working on.
I've decided to combine my love for chiles and my profession as a
social historian by writing an essay on the meaning of eating chiles.
I've discovered a few references from the 19th century that are
intriguing. A lot of dietary reformers believed that eating spicy food
would result in morally licentious behavior or that morally licentious
tendencies would be expressed by eating chiles and other spicy food!
Unfortunately I only have a few references. I'm having trouble
tracking down references to chile eating from the 19th and early to mid
20th centuries. What I do have is enough to speculate, but not enough
to say anything substantive.
I figure that if there is anybody out there who can help me with older
references to chile eating from the Americas, or anywhere else for that
matter, it would be the members of the chile-heads list serve. Please
contact me on, or off list at wdean@cvm.tamu.edu.
I would be happy to share what I have to this point with anybody on the
list serve and when I have something more substantial together I'll let
you know and I can send copies to those who are interested.
thanks in advance,
Wesley Dean