Chilies

Appears in
I Hear America Cooking

By Betty Fussell

Published 1986

  • About

An English traveler’s complaint in the eighteenth century that the fiery fruit of the Indians was “so very acrid as to cause an extraordinary great Pain in the mouth and Throat of such Persons as are not accustom’d to eat of it” has not prevented chili pepper from becoming the world’s most popular spice, more of it being eaten in greater quantity than any other seasoning in the world, including black pepper. Like corn, chili crossbreeds like crazy, so that today there are nearly two hundred varieties of Capsicum frutescens and annuum, ranging from sweet and fruity chilies like the ones used in Hungarian paprika to hellishly hot ones like the wild chiltepins that Mexicans were eating in 7000 B.C. and are eating still.