Food news: pink gin and steamed puddings Book of the week The Red Hot Chilli Cookbook by Dan May (£16.99, Ryland Peters & Small). Dan May, the man who runs the Trees Can't Dance chilli sauce company, looks just as you would expect: balding, bearded and tough. That's reassuring to the consumer who, if he likes chillies enough to buy a book about them, wouldn't want it to be written by a wimp. No, he would like his author to look as though he ate flames for breakfast and be entirely au fait with all kinds of fiery, serotonin-boosting recipes. And that's exactly what you get here - Jamaican jerk marinade, habañero marmalade, Peruvian chilli and garlic chicken, and so on. There's gentle stuff too, though: Provençal lamb casserole, chilli chai and Beck's Tarka Dahl, which even May's one-year-old daughter likes. All the recipes are graded by heat - jalapeño poppers are pretty hot Jalapeño poppers Makes 20 20 deseeded jalapeño chillies, slit on one side 40g grated cheddar 50g flour sunflower oil for deep-frying Stuff the chillies with the cheddar. Put the flour in one bowl, and the beaten egg in another. Roll the chillies in the flour, dip in the egg and coat once more with flour. Half-fill a large saucepan with oil. Heat until it reaches 190C on a cooking thermometer. Fry the chillies in small batches for six to seven minutes until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.