Chili pepper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chili pepper (chilli pepper, chilli, chili, chile) is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botany considers the plant a berry shrub. Though chilis may be thought of as a vegetable, their culinary use is generally as a spice. It is the fruit that is usually harvested.

The name comes from Nahuatl chīlli from the Spanish word chile. The word chili in most of the world refers to the smaller, hot Capsicum. The mild, larger types are called bell peppers in the United States, Canada (and sometimes the United Kingdom), simply peppers in Britain and Ireland, capsicum in Pakistan India and Australasia, and paprika in many European and African countries. Bell peppers are often named by colour (e.g. green pepper or red pepper).

Chili peppers and their cultivars originate in the Americas; they are now grown around the world because they are widely used as spices or vegetables in cuisine, and as medicine.

History

Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC. There is archaeological evidence at sites located in southwestern Ecuador that chili peppers were domesticated more than 6000 years ago,[1][2] and is one of the first cultivated crops in the Americas that is self-pollinating.

Chili peppers were domesticated at least five times by prehistoric peoples in parts of South and North America, from Peru in the south to Mexico in the north, as well as parts of Colorado and New Mexico (Ancient Pueblo Peoples).[3]

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.

Chilies were cultivated around the globe after Columbus.[4][5] 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. They were quickly incorporated into the local cuisines.

An alternate sequence for chili peppers' spread has the Portuguese getting the pepper from Spain, and thence to India, as described by Lizzie Collingham in her book Curry.[6] Collingham states in her book 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 interpretation 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.

There are speculations about pre-Columbian chili peppers in Europe. In an archaeological dig in the block of St. Botulf in Lund, archaeologists found a Capsicum frutescens in a layer dating to the 13th century. Hjelmqvist says that Capsicum was described by the Greek Therophrasteus (370-286 BC). He mentions other antique sources. The Roman poet Martialis (around the 1st century) described "Piper crudum" (raw pepper) to be long and containing seeds. The description of the plants does not fit pepper (Piper nigrum), which grows poorly in European climates.[7]

The Black Habanero (Chocolate Habanero, Habanero Negra), is thought to be the closest to the original peppers that grew in the South American coastal plains.^{[citation needed]} It is known to gourmets but rarely available, due in part to its long maturity. Seeds are available today but care is needed when purchasing as many sub species are sold under the same name.^{[citation needed]}

Species and cultivars

See also: List of capsicum cultivars

The common species of chili peppers are:

• Capsicum annuum, which includes many common varieties such as bell peppers, paprika, cayenne, jalapeños, and the chiltepin
• Capsicum frutescens, which includes the tabasco peppers
• Capsicum chinense, which includes the hottest peppers such as the naga, habanero, Datil and Scotch bonnet
• Capsicum pubescens, which includes the South American rocoto peppers
• Capsicum baccatum, which includes the South American aji peppers

Though there are only a few commonly used species, there are many cultivars and methods of preparing chili peppers that have different names for culinary use. Green and Red Bell peppers, for example, are the same cultivar of C. annuum; immature peppers being green. In the same species are the jalapeño, the poblano (when dried is referred to as ancho), New Mexico (which is also known as chile Colorado), Anaheim, Serrano, and other cultivars.

The species C. frutescens appears as chiles de árbol, aji, tabasco, 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.

Intensity

Further information: Capsaicin, Scoville scale

The substances that gives chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the primary ingredient in pepper spray.

When consumed, capsaicinoids bind with pain receptors in the mouth and throat that are normally responsible for sensing heat. Once activated by the capsaicinoids, these receptors send a message to the brain that the person has consumed something hot. The brain responds to the burning sensation by raising the heart rate, increasing perspiration and release of endorphins.

The "heat" of chili peppers is measured in Scoville units (SHU). Bell peppers rank at 0 (SHU), New Mexico green chilis at about 1,500 SHU, jalapeños at 3,000–6,000 SHU, and habaneros at 300,000 SHU. The record for the hottest chili pepper was assigned by the Guinness Book of Records to the Naga Jolokia, measuring over 1,000,000 SHU. Pure capsaicin, which is a hydrophobic, colorless, odorless, and crystalline to waxy solid at room temperature, measures 16,000,000 SHU.

Culinary use

The chili has a long association with Mexican cuisine as later adapted into Tex-Mex cuisine. Although unknown in Asia until Europeans introduced it there, chili has also become a part of the Korean, Nepal, Indian, Indonesian, Szechuan, Thai and other cooking traditions.

The fruit is eaten raw or cooked for its fiery hot flavour, concentrated along the top of the pod. The stem end of the pod has most of the glands that produce the capsaicin. The white flesh surrounding the seeds contains the highest concentration of capsaicin. Removing the inner membranes is thus effective at reducing the heat of a pod.

Chili is sold worldwide fresh, dried and powdered. In the United States, it is often made from the Mexican chile ancho variety, but with small amounts of cayenne added for heat. In the Southwest United States, dried ground chili peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano is often known as chili powder. Chipotles are dry, smoked red (ripe) jalapeños.

Chili peppers are used around the world to make a variety of sauces, known as hot sauce, chili sauce, or pepper sauce. There are countless recipes.

Indian cooking has multiple uses for chilis, from snacks like bhaji where the chilis are dipped in batter and fried, to vindaloo. Chilis are dried, roasted and salted as a side dish for rice varieties such as daddojanam or Thayir sadam (curd rice) or Daal Rice (rice with lentils). The soaked and dried chillies are a seasoning ingredient in recipes such as kootu.

In Turkish or Ottoman cuisine, chilis are widely used where it is known as Kırmızı Biber (Red Pepper) or Acı Biber (Hot Pepper). Sambal is dipping sauce made from chili peppers with other ingredients such as garlic, onion, shallots, salt, vinegar and sugar, which is popular in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Chili powder is important in Persian cuisine and used in a variety of dishes.

Chili pepper plant leaves, mildly bitter, are cooked as greens in Filipino cuisine, where they are called dahon ng sili (literally "chili leaves"). They are used in the chicken soup, "tinola.[1]

In Korean cuisine, the leaves may be used in kimchi. (풋고추잎 깍두기).[8]

In Japanese cuisine, the leaves are cooked as greens, and also cooked in tsukudani style for preservation.

Decoration

Some chili pepper is not grown for consumption, but for decorative qualities: "ornamental peppers". Some are too hot for typical cooking, or do not taste good. Regardless, ornamental peppers have unusual shape or colours. Examples include Thai Ornamental, Black Pearl, Marble, and Numex Twilight. The Medusa pepper is a green plant that produces fruit starting purple, then ripening to yellow, orange, and red. Black Pearl has black leaves and round black fruit that ripen to a bright red. In India chili is used with lime to ward off evil spirits and is seen in vehicles and in homes for that purpose. It is used to check the evil eye and remove its effects in Hinduism as people will also be asked to spit into a handful of chilis kept in that plate, which are thrown into fire. If the chilis make a noise - as they should - then there is no case of "drishti" (evil eye); if on the other hand they do not, then the spell of the evil eye is removed in the fire.