Recently, Chili Pepper Festival was held at the Seoul Plaza in front of the Seoul City Hall building. Share with you some of the pictures...
最近，辣椒庆典在首尔的市政厅广场举行。 与您分享其中的一些照片。。。
The chili pepper (also chile pepper or chilli pepper, from Nahuatl chīlli /ˈt͡ʃiːlːi/) is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. In Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and other Asian countries, the word "pepper" is usually omitted.
Chili peppers originated in the Americas. After the Columbian Exchange, many cultivars of chili pepper spread across the world, used in both food and medicine. Chilies were brought to Asia by Portuguese navigators during the 16th century.
India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of chili peppers. Guntur in Andhra Pradesh produces 30% of all the chilies produced in India, and the state of Andhra Pradesh as a whole contributes 75% of India's chili exports.
The spread of chili peppers to Asia was most likely a natural consequence of its introduction to Portuguese traders (Lisbon was a common port of call for Spanish ships sailing to and from the Americas) who, aware of its trade value, would have likely promoted its commerce in the Asian spice trade routes then dominated by Portuguese and Arab traders.
Today chillies are an integral part of Indian cuisine.
There is a verifiable correlation between the chili pepper geographical dissemination and consumption in Asia and the presence of Portuguese traders, India and southeast Asia being obvious examples.
Red chilies contain large amounts of vitamin C and small amounts of carotene (provitamin A). Yellow and especially green chilies (which are essentially unripe fruit) contain a considerably lower amount of both substances. In addition, peppers are a good source of most B vitamins, and vitamin B6 in particular. They are very high in potassium, magnesium, and iron. Their very high vitamin C content can also substantially increase the uptake of non-heme iron from other ingredients in a meal, such as beans and grains.
辣椒（学名：Capsicum annuum），又叫牛角椒、长辣椒、番椒、番姜、海椒、辣子、辣角、秦椒等，是一种茄科辣椒属植物。
辣椒原产于中南美洲热带地区。从墨西哥到秘鲁，古印第安人在不同地域纷纷驯化了这种作物，早於公元前7500已用作烹調食品。厄瓜多爾出土的一系列考古證據指出美洲人在公元前6000年已懂得種植辣椒，其耕作縱影遍及美洲中、南、北部，從秘魯到墨西哥皆留有古人培植辣椒的資料。
雖然歐洲曾有學者提出古羅馬人已有本土辣椒出品，如古羅馬詩人Martialis形容的一種帶核的「生椒」（Pipervee crudum），但學術界仍公認辣椒並不適合在歐洲的自然環境生長。直至15世纪末，哥伦布到达美洲之后，在加勒比海發現辣椒後，把辣椒带回欧洲，并由此传播到世界其他地方，這種香料始為世界所識。 因為哥倫布等人一開始認為辣椒是胡椒的一種，辣椒因此得名。
1493年，哥倫布第二次橫渡美洲時，船上的醫生Diego Álvarez Chanca首次從墨西哥把辣椒帶入西班牙，並在1494年論說它的藥用效果。此時西班牙已將墨西哥收歸為殖民地，辣椒也隨著西班牙的貿易船隊流入其亞洲的殖民地菲律賓，辣椒再流入中國、印度和日韓等地。
红辣椒含有丰富的维生素C和胡萝卜素（维生素A前体）。但在黄色辣椒和尤其是绿色辣椒（基本为未成熟果实）中这两种维生素含量则相对显著偏低。此外，辣椒还富含多种的维生素B（尤其是维生素B6），以及钾，镁和铁等人体所必需微量元素。辣椒中高含量的维生素C还有助于食物，比如豆类和谷物，中非血红素源的铁元素的吸收。
並非所有的辣椒屬植物都有辣味，比如沒有辣味的青椒、甜椒。辣椒的辣度由史高維爾指標（Scoville scale）衡量，2007年，印度的“斷魂椒”（Naga Jolokia）达到1,041,427個史高維爾單位，被认为是世界上最辣的辣椒.
(source : wikipedia)
