Tortillas that preserve a child’s life, dolmas preparedto distract guard dogs, and artful potato mosaics are among the many ways food is celebrated in Black Pepper Visions: Original Folktales & Stories You Can Eat (FolkHeart Press 2012).

Karen Pierce Gonzalez’s 16 fast-paced original folktales and stories are accompanied by personalized recipes and tasty bits of food lore that can nourish readers physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

As a professional chef, I perceive food as an act of giving to others and sharing a part of myself. This can mean memories of food experiences I had as a child or while sailing and cooking around the world. The core, I think is learning, either personally or through another individual, the cultural history and family values behind each and every recipe I encounter. It is the foundation of food. Black Pepper Visions really solidifies these relationships with food for me through these wonderful tales,” said Chef Heidi West of Heidi West Catering.