Indian cooking Ineke

Capsium

Chile terminology is confusing; pepper, chili, chile, chilli, Aji, paprika and Capsicum are used interchangeably for "chile pepper" plants in the genus Capsicum. The word Capsicum comes from the Greek kapto, meaning "to bite" (a reference to pungency or heat). In Mexico, Central American and the southwestern U.S.A., a Capsicum is called a Chile pepper. To confuse matters even more, a sweet bell pepper is often called a capsicum pepper whereas a hot pepper is often called a chile pepper !

From the Nahuatl dialect of the Aztec language, the name Chiltepin arises. This was the name given to one of the earliest known varieties. The name is believed to be a concatenation of the word chile and tecpintl, where the combination translates as 'Flea Chile', which is believed to allude to the sharp biting taste of the chile pepper. Through the ages, this original name has been altered: chile + tecpintl to chiltecping to chiltepin to chilepiquin. The last two names are fairly interchangeable. The version used depending upon the source of the information. The modern botanical name used by taxonomists for this variety is Capsicum annuum var. aviculare.

Nowadays, the spelling version of "chili" identifies the dish that is a combination of meat and pungent chile peppers. In some recipes, beans will also be added.

"Bell pepper" generally refers to non-pungent, blocky, sweet chile pepper types, while "chile pepper" has come to mean the pungent chile varieties that us Chile-Heads so adore.

It is thought that chile peppers made their first appearance around 7,000 BC in Central Mexico. The first European to 'discover' chiles was Christopher Columbus in one of his historical trips to America around 1493. He was actually looking for an alternative source of black pepper, which at the time was the favorite spice in Europe. What he 'discovered' was a small fiery pod that had for centuries before provided a seasoning for native Americans, the hot chile pepper. Columbus called them 'pimiento' after the Spanish word for black pepper. Capsicum is not related to the Piper genus, which contains Piper nigrum L., the source of black and white pepper. Within a century, hot chile peppers had spread worldwide.

The genus Capsicum is a member of the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family, that includes tomato, potato, tobacco and petunias. Chile peppers grow as a perennial shrub in suitable climatic conditions. A plant may live for a decade or more in tropical conditions of central South America, but it is mostly cultivated as an annual elsewhere.