Latin America guide


The Origins of Chile Peppers

Christopher Columbus didn't just sail thebeen right about the origins, but he did help
ocean blue and discover the New World in 1492popularize chile peppers. (A chile by any
while trying to find a short cut to the Eastother name will be just as hot, right?) He
Indies. He sampled a plant, thought it was abrought back samples to the Iberian Peninsula
relative of the black pepper, and dubbed it aand they quickly spread about the world. And
"pepper."So began several hundred years ofif you think that today's hot sauce explosion
misinformation about chile peppers. Unlikeis amazing, check this out. According to the
what Christopher Columbus thought, theyFoodies Corner of MSN.com, roughly 50 years
aren't related to black pepper and theyafter Columbus brought home peppers, they
didn't originate in India.Hot pepperswere being cultivated on all coasts of
actually came from somewhere in SouthAfrica, India, Asia, China, the Middle East,
America. There they were known as Ajithe Balkans, Central Europe and Italy.
[technically there should an accent over thePeppers spread faster than kudzu.And although
"I" leaning towards the right]. ChileColumbus brought peppers to Spain, it was the
peppers, which hail from the genus CapsicumPortugese traders who actually spread their
are not related to black pepper. Instead theyuse and cultivate, according to the Foodies
are members of the nightshade (Solanaceae)Corner. Portuguese trading partners in turn
family and are related to tomatoes, cherriesspread peppers to Asia and the Arab world by
and eggplant."Well into the 19th century,the early 1500s. The Turks reportedly brought
most Europeans continued to believe thatthe chile pepper to Hungary in the mid-15th
peppers were native to India and the Orient,century.Today, no matter what language you
until Alphonse de Candolle, a botanist,speak, peppers are popular, especially with
produced convincing linguistic evidence forthe Thais, who reportedly consume more chiles
the South America origin of the genuson a daily basis than any other people.This
Capsicum," states MSN.com's Foodiesarticle was written by Eric Vinje of Cosmic
Corner.Whether you call them aji or chileChile.
peppers, these plants were likely first
cultivated as early as 5000 BC. By 1492,
Native Americans had domesticated at least
four species. In the West Indies, ColumbusShop online for hot sauces, salsas, spicy
found several different capsicums cultivatedBBQ sauces and more. If it's fiery foods
by the Arawak Indians.Columbus might not haveyou're after...we've got it!



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