Chilli peppers have been around for many years and this actually dates back to over thousand and thousands of years ago. The earliest dated use of the chilli pepper originates back to the region of South America. Many world explorers and travellers encountered chilli peppers on their journeys. Of course when discovering new spices and flavours it fitting to provide a name and that’s exactly what happened many years back in Europe. The name Chilli Pepper gained its moniker when famous explorer Christopher Columbus encountered the world famous spice. He found them to be uncertainly spicy and reminiscent of the black pepper. This is a very distinct taste compared to many other foods at the time as they were mostly savoury or sweet. As trade and time went on, there would be greater introduction of the chilli pepper around Europe and they would even cultivate their own.
Chillies are all over the world and there are many types to be tried. They were not something thought to be part of human evolution, they were part of even the indigenous people and the rest of the world came to know about this amazing spice when it was shared with travellers. There are very early records of spice dating back many centuries ago. This to me is a very fascinating discovery and over the years, the science behind chilli peppers have come to light. If used in moderation, chilli’s can carry some very healthy benefits when consumed in the diet.
Out of all the chilli’s there are many different variations that are deemed to be some of the hottest in the world. If you’ve seen the videos online of the somewhat crazy challenges, these are indeed a very spicy fix that even I would not dare to try. There is actually an intensity scale that rates the intensity of a chilli pepper. This gives a measurable quantity to recognise how hot the pepper in question is. This is referred to as the Scoville Scale. In China there are some pretty spicy chillies too, Yunnan engineered a hybrid chilli as part of an experiment that was even dangerous to handle. It’s safe to say that I will be steering clear of these crazy peppers when cooking. However I do love spice and love adding dry chillies to dishes, they give a beautiful spicy kick and the peppercorns give the exact tingle I need once in a while.
