Although they are native to Central and South America, Capsicums
traveled around the world before they were introduced to North
American culture. Explorers brought Capsicums to Europe in the
1500's. The Spanish named it "pimento" after the black pepper
called "pimienta," which is the unrelated Piper nigrum. As the
Capsicum pepper traveled to other European countries, it acquired
other names such as the Hungarian "paprika" and the British "Ginnie
pepper." Capsicums quickly became popular in the Orient and
Africa and were introduced to North America by colonists.
Today, many types of hot peppers are cultivated throughout the
world, including jalapeno, cayenne, Tabasco and chili.
The hotness of peppers is actually chemically different from
their flavor. The source of their fiery sensation is a group
of naturally occurring chemicals called "capsaicins." The
effects of the capsaicins have been described as delivering rapid
bites to the back of the palate or a slow burn on the tongue and mid
palate. Different combinations of the individual capsaicins
produce varying degrees of hotness, resulting in the various pepper
strains.
Capsaicin content is dependent on many factors, including plant
genetics, climate, geographic location and stage of ripeness.
Warm weather regions generally produce hotter peppers than cooler
areas. Warm nights, in particular, seem to be responsible for
the higher capsaicin content. Peppers generally begin to
produce capsaicin at about a month and then increase with maturity.
Flavor in peppers is thought to be associated with the pigments
that give the fruit its color. Generally, the deeper the
color, the stronger the flavor. Most peppers begin their
development in some shade of green and then change color to red,
orange, yellow or purple as they ripen.
Hot peppers are quite versatile in that they can be used fresh,
dried or frozen. The fruits are a good source of vitamins and
generally are even more nutritious than bell peppers. In fact,
green hot peppers have more Vitamin C per weight than citrus fruit,
and red hot peppers have more vitamin A than carrots. Hot
peppers are low in calories, too; that is, if we could just leave
out all hat other stuff like cheese, nacho chips and sour cream!