A Pepper for Your Thoughts: or How NOT to Start a Gourmet Foods Business

(Paperback)

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Howard Lev is not only the creator of Mama Lil's Peppers, an epic condiment line, he is the bard and comic hero of an epic condiment tome. This rib-tickling if heartfelt entrepreneurial memoir is filled with colorful photos and reads like a gourmand version of Kerouac as Lev charts his decades long attempt to establish his mother's pepper recipe as a national brand. As he caroms among canneries, pepper fields, grocerystores, restaurants and food shows, Lev shares valuable lessons on canning and the pitfalls of running a small gourmet food business. According to Tony Gilroy of the Bourne movies and Andor fame, "This truly enjoyable and unique book is so many things: a culinary adventure story, a cautionary tale of entrepreneurial innocence, an inspirational memoir with a soundtrack of 30 tasty recipes from its cast of charactersand chefs. If you've ever contemplated life in the food business Lev will sober you up even as he's opening another bottle of-go-for-it."

Reviews

This unique book is many things: A culinary adventure story. A cautionary tale of entrepreneurial innocence. An inspirational memoir with a soundtrack of recipes. If you've ever contemplated a life in the food business, Howard will sober you up even as he's opening another bottle of go-for-it. It's fun, appetizing, and a pleasure to read.

- Tony Gilroy, director and screenwriter of the Bourne movies, Michael Clayton, and Andor

When I first met Howard 25 years ago at a farmers' market selling his pickled peppers, I asked him the obvious: "Does Peter Piper work for you" He said, "He did, but I canned him." I chuckled and bought my first jar of Mama Lil's. I also bought into this poetically woven entrepreneurial memoir that kept me chuckling as it kept me turning the pages. Howard's book personifies both the perfect pepper of a life, and of an iconic gourmet food brand.

- Tom Douglas, James Beard award winning restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio host.

I traveled the world listening to so many stories that I thought I heard them all. This braided personal/entrepreneurial memoir puts a whole new spin on what it takes to succeed and to fail in business. As much about the family as the recipe, it is so vigorous with stories, it reads like a gourmand version of Kerouac. Devour this book. And if you're lucky you'll do it while putting a ring of Mama Lil's Peppers on each bite.

-Dan Kennedy, author and co-founder and former host of the storytelling podcast, The Moth

Author Bio

Though Howard Lev claims to have been an excellent cabbie, otherwise his life was a series of misadventures until at the age of 37 he started a pepper business based on his mother's recipe. He claims to have only succeeded in that due to his utter fear of failure, which he believes is the origin of his grit. Either that or as his dentist claims, "Howard has the bite of an ox." He has never won an award or had any acclaim whatsoever but is uniquely qualified to have written this book. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he has resided in Seattle for fifty years, presently with his handsome teenage son and beloved cat and dog.