The chile is moving out of the shadow of its lifelong sidekick, the tomato, to become a staple crop in the garden. New colors of bell peppers, which have always been popular with gardeners, sweet and mild jalapenos, novel ornamental types, and exotic chiles from around the world are inspiring new interest among gardeners. Fiery foods form ethnic cuisines are gaining influence, accelerating the popularity of chiles in cooking and in the garden. And because fresh chiles are fat-free, keto-friendly, low in sodium and generally guilt free then they have increasingly become the staple of most fad diets found today.
Chiles not only have a bright future, but they have an incredible past where destinies intertwine like snakes in the scorching sun. Chiles belong o the genus Casicum and Solanaceae, a fancier word for the nightshade family.
This incredibly large family includes such species as the tomato, potato, eggplant, and petunia. Yes, even a flower. Chiles may be called peppers, but they are not actually related to the black pepper, or Piper Nigrum, nor are they related to teh Guinea pepper, sometimes called "grains of paradis". So, why the confusion in names? Originally, chiles were found only in the Americas. But when Columbus searched for a shorter route to the East Indies and its prized spices, he found in teh Caribbean a plant that mimicked the pungency of the black pepper. He called it red pepper, probaby assuming
