CHILLI PEPPERS
There can be no doubt that the
chilli is the driving force behind almost
all Mexican dishes; with over 16 different varieties to be
found growing within its borders, it is easy to see why the
average Mexican sees the chilli as the perfect seasoning to
cook with. Although famed for the sometimes excessive use
of chillis in their food, Mexicans were
not the first to rely upon chilli’s a staple part of their
diet.
Human beings have been consuming chillis as a regular part
of their diet since before 7500 BC. Archaeologists have
found evidence in south-western Ecuador that the local
people there were cultivating chillies over 6000 years ago,
making it one of the very first types of crop to be
cultivated in the Americas. It is thought that chilli
peppers were domesticated and cultivated at least five
times by people in the prehistoric ages. Predominantly in
parts of southern and northern America.
Why are chilli peppers so hot? Simply
because they contain a substance named
capsaicin, and several other chemicals
from the related group called
capsaicinoids. The variation in the
quantity of these substances from species to species, is
what gives us a range of chilli’s from mild, almost cool to
dragons breath hot.
