Chili Pepper’s Fiery History: The Berry That Conquered the World

Chili peppers (Capsicum) are a group of flowering plants from the family Solanaceae native to the Americas, specifically to the areas of what is today Peru, Bolivia, and Central Mexico. Once used to spice up traditional indigenous foods, in the 500 years since the conquest, the humble berry has spread around the world, evolving numerous varieties, introducing new flavors to old cuisines, and testing heat tolerances from Hungary to India.

Archeological findings have shown chili seeds associated with cooking, war, and ritual utensils and suggest that the berry had been domesticated as a spice by pre-Columbian civilizations and communities 7,500 years ago, in line with the beginning of agriculture. It was most likely domesticated because of its ability to preserve foods for extended periods. Its seeds were spread by different species of birds to the north and south of the Americas, allowing for the evolution of different varieties.

The scientific name capsicum comes from the Greek word kapsimo, which means “to burn.” The original name chili comes from the Nahuatl chīlli, while pepper (pimiento) is believed to have been used by the first conquistadors, as they found the berry’s characteristic spiciness similar to the already-known black pepper.

Consuming chili peppers has been found to have some health benefits, such as boosting the immune system, reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes, preventing allergies, and reducing cancer risk. Chilis are also rich in vitamins A, C, and E and contain capsanthin, a potent, cancer-fighting antioxidant that gives them their distinctive red color.

Capsaicin and other related chemicals are what create peppers’ pungency, which is the characteristic taste and feeling of spiciness, hotness, or heat caused in the body when ingested or applied topically. Both the pepper species and the growing environment affect their pungency; those grown in environments with low water availability are the spiciest, for example, the habanero. The spiciness of chili peppers is measured with the Scoville Heat Scale, which puts in the lowest levels variants such as the bell pepper, the sweet pepper, and the paprika, and in the highest, variants such as the Red Savina habanero, the chocolate habanero, and the Dragon’s Breath chili pepper, the hottest pepper in the world.

The sensation of spiciness is generated when capsaicin meets the body’s pain receptors. When these sensory neurons are stimulated, they send signals to the brain through the spinal cord. The brain sends back signals that create the feeling of pain, making the body direct attention to the “affected” area. Some chili peppers can generate so much pain that they have been used as a type of non-lethal weapon in India, where it has been used against people in Kashmir.

When consumed regularly, resistance and tolerance to capsaicin increases, which explains how different people have different tolerance levels to spicy foods. Interestingly, one of the effects of chili peppers’ pungency is that the brain releases endorphins and dopamine to help the body fight against the “threat,” which also causes a feeling of pleasure. The body believes it is in danger, but the mind knows it is not, creating an exciting contrast between pain and pleasure.

Contrary to many other mammals, humans do not “flee” the pain caused by chili peppers. Although most mammals identify ingesting them as a threat, humans, in contrast, have actually been a primary method through which the plant fulfills its evolutionary drive to spread into new environments. Before humans, birds fulfilled this role; they do not experience the same chemical reaction that capsaicin causes in the human body because they do not have the same pain receptors.

In many countries, high tolerance to spiciness is associated with masculinity. In Hungary, for example, peppers are a symbol of virility, and the Kalocsa variety is known as “cat penis.” In Mexico, men tend to eat hotter foods than women, aiming to sweat while consuming them. For some cultures, consuming “hot” food is related to preserving the vital heat one acquires as one grows older, as it “gives strength” or fosters sexual activity.

Chili peppers were first domesticated as a spice in what is now Mexico and were mainly diversified in Peru through agriculture and artificial selection. The plant was registered for the first time in Western historical records at the end of the 15th century. Shortly after the arrival of Spanish invaders to the Americas, the Spanish friar Bernardino de Sahagún had already noted various chilmolli (a Nahuatl word for chili pepper sauces) in the central Mexican highlands.

With the commercialization of goods as well as the routes of the slave trade, Europeans brought chili peppers to the Old World in what is known today as “The Columbian Exchange.” Two empires dominated these routes: the Spanish, ruled by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Spain to Italy and the Middle East), and the Ottoman Empire (to the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and up to Hungary).

After its introduction, a variety of the species capsicum annuum most commonly known as the bell pepper started to be successfully cultivated in regions of southern Europe. Although the plant was first used as an ornament in aristocratic houses, farmers began to rapidly cultivate it in the 16th century as a spice. In Europe, chili peppers were considered the “poor people’s peppers,” as they were more affordable than Asian black peppers, which likely resulted in the artificially developed variety of bell peppers in Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. In Hungary, the production of chili peppers became industrialized in the 19th century, gaining culinary and cultural importance through the production of paprika, which (believe it or not) is made from grinding dry red bell peppers. Today, paprika is used all over Europe to spice up hams, sausages, and many other dishes.

Different cultures discovered or ascribed different gastronomic or therapeutic uses to the plant, which ultimately reached regions including Ethiopia, South India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the Pacific Islands, China, and Japan. Today, chili production is concentrated in China, Indonesia, Mexico, and India, where the Portuguese introduced it in the 17th century. The integration of chili peppers in Indian cuisine is an example of how some foreign cultural elements brought to new places by the historical trade of goods, often linked to colonization and imperialism, become important local cultural elements.

The uses and culinary techniques related to chili peppers vary in different geographical locations and are dependent on many factors, including the maturity of the berry or culturally codified color schemes. Among the Aztecs, for example, red and green were considered naturally complementary colors; the green chili was associated with the Rain God as the green color symbolizes water, while the red chili represents the feeling of hotness. In Europe, red chili peppers are often associated with emotions and historically viewed as stimulants or aphrodisiacs. For instance, Hungarians refer to being angry or agitated as praprikás: “to be like pepper.” Rather than blushing “like a tomato,” they “blush like a paprika.”

Cultural gastronomies demonstrate how spicy food can become a great marker of identity. In Italy, for example, Calabrians have come to use peppers as a significant element of their identity, while in Hungary, the distinctive use of paprika in goulash marked an identitarian differentiation from Austrians in the 18th century.

In Mexico, beans and stews are cooked with small chili peppers as the base. Spiciness has dominated Mexican cuisine to the point that it’s even added to sweets and desserts. Hot sauces are common in all of Latin America, varying in taste, color or pungency depending on the kinds of chili peppers used. Large green chili peppers can be consumed as vegetables in Mexico, similar to bell peppers in Spain.

The chili pepper’s popularity has made Hatch, a village in New Mexico in the United States, known as the chili capital of the world—the town hosts the Hatch Chile Festival every year. In Budapest, there’s a whole museum dedicated to the chili, and after a great flood that destroyed the southern city of Szeged, it became a symbol of revival. Other museums dedicated to chili peppers can be found in Diamante in Calabria and Espelette in the Basque Country, showcasing how chili peppers have become a tourist attraction as well as a marker of cultural heritage.

Chili Culture Under Threat?

Today, Mexico is experiencing adverse cultural and economic effects caused by gentrification and the touristification of its cities, and the chili is not immune. This gentrification has been driven by the arrival and takeover of foreigners, specifically digital nomads, who often prefer non-spicy food, leading some traditional dishes to lose the characteristic spiciness that has been present throughout the country’s entire cultural history. This is affecting the evolution of food traditions in the country and prompting different urban local communities to raise their voices against the adverse economic and cultural effects gentrification is having in Mexico’s main cities.

It’s clear that spiciness in food is an essential gastronomic tradition as well as a cultural identifier—is it time to protect and treat it as a cultural heritage amid globalization and the increase in migration around the globe?

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