ABSTRACT
When the Europeans started to explore the American continent, they reported the consumption of chili pepper almost everywhere. The first Spanish chroniclers described it with the Taino name aji in all the conquered territories. In Mexico, where the Aztecs called it chilli, the Spaniards eventually adopted that name, which became chile in Mexican Spanish. Chili pepper was described by 16th century botanists in different European countries and grown in naturalists’, herbalists’ and aristocrats’ gardens. The naturalists compared it to black pepper and called it “Indian,” “Guinea,” “Turkish,” “Spanish,” “Brazilian” pepper. Peasant food contrasted with the elites’ diet. In France, from the 16th to the 18th centuries, it was based on vegetable soups and legumes, salted or smoked pork, and bread. Most of the dishes were boiled, while the 16th century elites broiled, fried and roasted a lot of their ingredients. The farmers seasoned their food with onion, garlic and some herbs.
