Chili pepper
The
chili pepper,
chile pepper, or
chilli pepper, or simply
chilli,
chili or
chile, is the fruit of the plant
Capsicum from the nightshade family,
Solanaceae. The name comes from
Nahuatl via the
Spanish word
chile.
Chile peppers and their various
cultivars originate in the
Americas; they are now grown around the world because they are widely used as
spices or
vegetables in
cuisine, and even as
medicine.
Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since about 7500 BC. They were domesticated there between 5200 and 3400 BC, one of the first cultivated crops in the Americas. Chili peppers are thought to have been domesticated at least five times by prehistoric peoples in different parts of South, Central and North America, from
Peru in the south to
Mexico in the north and parts of Colorado and New Mexico (
Ancient Pueblo Peoples).
Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to encounter them (in the
Caribbean), and called them "peppers" because of their similarity in taste (though not in appearance) with the Old World
peppers of the
Piper genus. Columbus was keen to prove (incorrectly) that he had in fact opened a new direct nautical route to Asia, contrary to reality and the expert consensus of the time, and it has been speculated that he was therefore inclined to denote these new substances "pepper" in order to associate them with the known Asian spice.
Diego Álvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, brought the first chili peppers to
Spain, and first wrote about their medicinal effects in 1494.
From
Mexico, at the time the Spanish colony that controlled commerce with Asia, chili peppers spread rapidly into the
Philippines and then to
India,
China,
Korea and
Japan with the aid of
European sailors. The new spice was quickly incorporated into the local cuisines.
(Note: An alternate sequence for chili pepper's spread has the Portuguese picking up the pepper from Spain, and thence to India, as described by Lizzie Collingham in her book
Curry [ISBN13: 9780195172416, Oxford University Press, February 2006]. The evidence provided is that the chili pepper figures heavily in the cuisine of the Goan region of India, which was the site of a Portuguese colony (e.g.
Vindaloo, an Indian evolution of a Portuguese dish). Collingham also describes the journey of chili peppers from India, through Central Asia and
Turkey, to
Hungary, where it became the national spice in the form of
paprika.)
:See
List of chili pepper cultivarsThe most common species of chile peppers are:
*
Capsicum annuum, which includes many common varieties such as
bell peppers,
paprika,
jalapeños, and the
chiltepin*
Capsicum frutescens, which includes the
cayenne and
tabasco peppers
*
Capsicum chinense, which includes the hottest peppers such as the
naga,
habanero and
Scotch bonnet*
Capsicum pubescens, which includes the South American
rocoto peppers
*
Capsicum baccatum, which includes the South American
aji peppers
 |
Assorted paprika fruits from Mexico |
Though there are only a few commonly used species, there are many
cultivars and methods of preparing chile peppers that have different common names for culinary use. Green and red
bell peppers, for example, are the same cultivar of
C. annuum, the green ones being immature. In the same species are the
jalapeño, the
poblano, ancho (which is a dried poblano),
New Mexico,
Anaheim,
Serrano, and other cultivars.
Jamaicans,
Scotch bonnets, and
habaneros are common varieties of
C. chinense. The species
C. frutescens appears as
chilies de arbol, aji,
pequin,
tabasco,
cayenne,
cherry peppers,
malagueta and others.
Peppers are commonly broken down into three groupings; bell peppers, sweet peppers, and hot peppers. Most popular pepper varieties are seen as falling into one of these categories, or as a cross between them.
Not chili peppers
Among the various peppers mistaken for or misnamed as chili peppers is the
Brazilian pepper.
The substances that gives chile peppers their heat is
capsaicin (8-methyl-
N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) and several related chemicals, collectively called
capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the primary ingredient in
pepper spray. The "heat" of chile peppers is measured in
Scoville units.
Bell peppers rank at zero Scoville units, jalapeños at 3,000"6,000 Scoville units, and habaneros at 300,000 Scoville units. The record for the highest number of Scoville units in a chile pepper is assigned by the
Guinness Book of Records to the
Red Savina Habanero, measuring 577,000 units.
However, a recent report was made of a pepper from India called the
Naga Jolokia measuring at 855,000 Scoville units. Both the Red Savina and the Naga Jolokia claims are disputed as to their validity, and lack independent verification.
, a report has been made of the
Naga Dorset pepper, a variety of the Naga Jolokia pepper cultivated exclusively by the Peppers by Post company in Dorset, England. They claim a lab used by the American Spice Trade Association measured their pepper at 923,000 SHU.
For reference, pure capsaicin rates at 15,000,000 Scoville units.
The fruit is eaten cooked or raw for its fiery hot flavor which is concentrated along the top of the pod. The stem end of the pod has glands which produce the capsaicin, which then flows down through the pod. Removing the seeds and inner membranes is thus effective at reducing the heat of a pod.
Well-known dishes with a strong chile flavor are Mexican
salsas,
Tex-Mex chile con carne, and Indian
vindaloos and other curries.
Chile powder is a
spice made of the dried ground chilies, usually of the Mexican
chile ancho variety, but with small amounts of cayenne added for heat, while
chili powder is composed of dried ground chile peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano. Bottled hot sauces such as
Tabasco sauce are made from Tabasco chilies, similar to cayenne, which may also be fermented.
Chipotles are dried, smoked chilies used to flavor stews and sauces. While the term refers to any smoked chile, most commercial chipotles are made from red jalapeños.
Korean,
Indian,
Indonesian,
Szechuan and
Thai cuisines are particularly associated with the chile pepper, although the plant was unknown in Asia until Europeans introduced it there.
In
Turkish or
Ottoman cuisine, chilies are widely used. It is known as "Kırmızı Biber" (Red Pepper) or "Acı Biber" (Hot Pepper).
Sambal is dipping sauce made from chile peppers with any other ingredients such as garlic, onion, shallots, salt, vinegar and sugar. It is very popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
There are entire breeds of chili pepper which are not intended for consumption at all, but are grown entirely for their decorative qualities. Some of them are too hot for most common cooking techniques, or simply don't taste good. Some are grown for both decoration and food. Either way, they tend to have peppers of unusual shapes or colors. Examples of these include
Thai Ornamental, Black Pearl, Marble,
Numex Twilight, and the Medusa pepper. Numex Twilight is a green plant which produces fruit starting purple, then ripening to yellow, orange, and red, meaning that the plant actually has every color of the pigment
color wheel except blue. Black Pearl has black leaves and round red fruit.
|
Scotch bonnet chile peppers in a Caribbean market |
Chile peppers are popular in food. They are rich in
vitamin C and are believed to have many beneficial effects on health. The pain caused by capsaicin stimulates the brain to produce
endorphins, natural
opioids which act as
analgesics and produce a sense of well-being. Psychologist
Paul Rozin suggests that eating chiles is an example of a "constrained risk" like riding a
roller coaster, in which extreme sensations like pain and fear can be enjoyed because individuals know that these sensations are not actually harmful.
|
Chile peppers drying in Kathmandu, Nepal |
Birds do not have the same sensitivity to capsaicin as
mammals, as capsaicin acts on a specific nerve receptor in mammals, and avian nervous systems are rather different. Chile peppers are in fact a favorite food of many birds living in the chile peppers' natural range. The flesh of the peppers provides the birds with a nutritious meal rich in
vitamin C. In return, the
seeds of the peppers are distributed by the birds, as they drop the seeds while eating the pods or the seeds pass through the
digestive tract unharmed. This relationship is theorized to have promoted the
evolution of the protective capsaicin.
The three primary spellings are
chile,
chili, and
chilli, all of which are recognized by dictionaries.
*
Chile is the American spelling (uncommon elsewhere) which refers specifically to this plant and its fruit. This orthography is universal in the Spanish-speaking world, although in some parts the plant and its fruit are better known as
ají. In the American southwest (particularly northern
New Mexico),
chile also denotes a thick, spicy, un-vinegared sauce, which is available in red and green varieties and which is often served over most
New Mexican cuisine.
*
Chili is also widely used, but this spelling is discouraged by some, since it is more commonly used to refer to a popular Southwestern-American dish (also known as
chili con carne, the official state dish of Texas [
1]), as well as to the mixture of cumin and other spices (
chili powder) used to flavor it.
Chile powder, on the other hand, refers to dried, ground chile peppers. As with the alternative pronunciation of "route" after the song "route 66", this spelling was popularized in part by the band
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
*
Chilli, is the preferred spelling according to the
Oxford English Dictionary, although it also lists
chile and
chili as variants.
 |
Chili peppers can also be used decoratively |
The name of this plant bears no relation to
Chile, the country, which is named after the
Quechua chin ("cold"),
tchili ("snow"), or
chilli ("where the land ends"). Chile is one of the Spanish-speaking countries where chiles are known as
ají, a word of
Taíno origin.
There is some disagreement about whether it is proper to use the word "pepper" when discussing chile peppers because "pepper" originally referred to the genus
Piper, not Capsicum. Despite this dispute, a sense of
pepper referring to Capsicum is supported by English dictionaries, including the
Oxford English Dictionary (sense 2b of
pepper) and
Merriam-Webster [
2]. Furthermore, the word "pepper" is commonly used in the botanical and culinary fields in the names of different types of chile peppers.
Red chiles are very rich in
vitamin C and
provitamin A. Yellow and especially green chiles (which are essentially unripe fruit) contain a considerably lower amount of both substances. In addition, peppers are a good source of most
B vitamins, and
vitamin B6 in particular. They are very high in
potassium and high in
magnesium and
iron. Their high vitamin C content can also substantially increase the uptake of non-heme iron from other ingredients in a meal, such as
beans and
grains.
*
Capsicum*
Capsaicin*
PepperCenter.com Your Complete Chili Pepper Community*
Capsicum - Pimentas e Pimentões do Brasil*
Chilli Saga, a list of Indian chillis, notes and the hottest naga jolokhia
*
Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages: Chile peppers , detailed resource, including etymology
*
Plant Cultures: Chilli pepper botany, history and uses*
The Chile Pepper Institute of New Mexico State University*
thechileman.org Chile database featuring 3,500 varieties with images and descriptions*
Fatalii Finnish chilehead, extensive picture gallery of chiles, their plants & flowers
*
Capsicums: Innovative Uses of an Ancient Crop*
The Chilli King - Advice on growing and cooking with chillis
