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