Sweet paprika as well as chili peppers (spicy paprika) have been widely used in cooking for a long time, and, in some countries, paprika and chili peppers even form the integral part of cookery. Paprika and chili peppers are used to season sauces, stewed dishes, soups, seafood, different vegetables, meat, bean dishes, and etc. Sweet paprika or chili peppers (spicy paprika) add a pleasant flavour, colour, and taste, may intensify some food qualities. Besides, these paprika and chili peppers are very useful for a human body: enhance digestion and appetite, stimulate blood circulation, give vivacity, tone up, and are rich with antioxidants and vitamins. They have a lot of vitamin B, carotene, potassium, and magnesium, the vitamin C content of paprika is three times as much as in lemons. Chili peppers are also used in medicine (as analgesics).
There are archaeological proofs that chili peppers were used as a component of the human diet as early as 7500 years B.C. Columbus was the first European who found out chili peppers on Caribbean Islands, and the physics Diego Alvarez Chanka, who accompanied Columbus during the second expedition to India in 1493, was the first who brought chili peppers to Spain. Chili peppers were brought to India from Mexico through Philippines, China, Korea, and Japan. Thereafter chili peppers were brought to Europe from Asia through Turkey and Hungary where spicy paprika turned into national seasoning.
Sometimes chili peppers are referred to as spicy paprika.The word ‘paprika’ originates from the Hungarian word ‘papryka’, and this description of a fruit is used only in some European countries: Hungary, the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Czechia, France, Finland as well as in the Baltic countries. ‘Chili’ is the most often used word in the world. By the way, this word has no relationship with the South American country Chile, though the native land of this fruit is South America. In Spanish-speaking countries, paprika is referred to as ajн, locoto, chile, rocoto or pimentуón. In Europe, the definition chili pepper or bell pepper is also widely used. However, some people think that paprika may not be referred to as chili pepper, so as it was mentioned by Christopher Columbus due to likeness of its taste with the taste of black pepper, because Piper is attributed to absolutely other subclass of growing fruit rather than Capsicum (chili).
Spiciness of the chili pepper taste is formed the chemical substance capsaicin contained in chili peppers, which makes receptors to feel heat by sending pain signals to the brain and in this way generating endorphins – thanks to this, when eating spicy food, an individual feels euphoria. Contrary to the opinion of most people, capsaicin is contained in pepper seeds rather than in the white part to which seeds are fastened. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the spiciness of chili peppers is measured by the Scoville heat units (Scoville Heat Units, SHU). According to the Scoville scale, chili pepper spiciness is measured 0 SHU (sweet paprika) to 16 million SHU (pure capsaicin). For simplify understanding, the most well-known Tabasco peppers have 2500 to 8000 SHU, and the most spicy in the world pepper Naga Jolokia growing in India – about 1 million SHU.
ABOUT RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS AND SWEET PAPRIKA