Find out more about your favorite fiery food or condiment.
We have compiled a number of fascinating facts and beliefs.
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Heat Index Descriptions
It's important to understand that "Heat" means something different to everyone! So, in attempt to help you choose the level of heat that is right for you, we've created the following heat index. |
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Hot sauces have been around since humans first realized they could eat peppers. Bottles containing hot sauce have been recovered from archaeological digs as well as shipwrecks, according to Dave DeWitt and Chuck Evans, authors of “The Hot Sauce Bible,” The Crossing Press, 1996.
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Chile, Chili, Chilli or Chillie?
Within the world of spicy foods, there is some disagreement upon the spelling of the plant that we all know and love. Probably the best answer to this is that it all depends upon where you live. In North America, England, and Australia, it is commonly spelled "chili." In the South and Southwestern U.S. it is called "chile" and "chile pepper." In India
and Asia, it is often spelled "chilli." And South Africa it will be seen as "chillie." |
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Other than culinary and medicinal, chile peppers have some uses that are quite interesting. For example, capsaicin is being added to paint for the bottoms of ships to keep them clear of barnacles. Some home uses for chile powder include putting some cayenne in with the bird seed to keep out the squirrels. Birds have an incredible tolerance for pepper heat and the vitamin A improves their plumage. |
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It is well established that chile peppers are good for you. Low in calories, peppers contain twice as much vitamin C, per weight, as citrus fruits and more vitamin A than carrots (especially red chiles). As well, peppers aid in digestion and speed up metabolism. Hot sauce is also a great way to replace things like salt and butter to help spice up bland food. |
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The Scoville Unit is the measurement of heat in a pepper or sauce. It is named after a chemist in the early nineteen hundreds by the name of Wilbur Scoville. While working for a pharmaceutical company, he decided to devise a scale of heat for chile peppers. |
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The burning sensation from eating chile peppers is caused by a group of compounds called capsaicinoids. It is often simply called capsaicin. These compounds are concentrated in the white veins in the pepper that hold the seeds. The capsaicinoids in their pure form are a white, crystalline powder highly irritating to skin |
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Current theories hold that all chile peppers originated in central Bolivia, South America. Some species drifted to the Andes mountains of Chile and Peru. Others moved south into southern Bolivia and southern South America. Other species migrated into the Amazon basin and into Central America and Mexico. |
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Buffalo wing origins in dispute! |
What buffalo has wings?
Buffalo, New York! There was a time in the not-too-distant past when chicken wings were relegated as scraps worthy only of the stock or soup pot. Nowadays, hot Buffalo wings are all the rage as appetizers and party fare. |
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For recorded history, and probably, therefore, for a long time before that, people have been using mustard for seasoning. Click below for some fun facts: |
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Mustard heat is different from Pepper heat because the sensation of heat from mustard comes from a volatile oil released when mustard seed is mixed with water. In very hot mustards the "heat" travels up the nose, even making your eyes water. > |
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Fiery Facts 
