Red, yellow and green pepper

Clovis (long pepper) and California (square pepper)

Pepper varieties produce fruits with different shapes such as elongated, conical, prism and even globe-shaped, smooth or ribbed surfaces, colours ranging from green to violet and a flavour that can be either acrid or sweet. Peppers are eaten either fresh (raw or cooked) or in some cases dried (e.g. peperone crusco). Although they come from the same genus of plants, peppers differ from chilli peppers in that they do not contain capsaicin, which is responsible for the hotness of chilli peppers: a pepper therefore has zero value on the Scoville scale, the scale for measuring hotness.

Let’s get one myth out of the way: peppers are not hard to digest, but certain parts can be. So just remove the peel, seeds and placenta (pith) to enjoy peppers at their best. Delicious!

Unlike their chilli pepper relatives, bell peppers do not contain capsaicin, the compound responsible for spiciness. As a result, bell peppers are rated zero on the Scoville scale.

Peppers have very ancient origins. The plant actually originated in the Americas and was brought to Europe, alongside tomatoes, in the 16th century by Spanish and Portuguese expeditions.

Part of the Solanaceae family, peppers are native to South America but are currently cultivated all over the world. When they were introduced to Europe by the Spanish, peppers were an instant hit. Imports to Europe began with the return of Christopher Columbus from his first voyage to America.