A hit around the world
In the four trips he made back and forth between Europe and the New World, Columbus brought back many new types of vegetables from the Americas. The most important of these are included in the list at the right. Of all of these vegetables, chili peppers made by far the biggest immediate hit both in Europe and beyond.
The three main reasons for this can be stated in three words: hot, cheap, and easy.
Hot: For many people, bland food is boring. Chilies can change that. They can add zest and vitality to a dish. But so, too, could a few other spices, especially pepper, the black kind.
One big problem with pepper, however, was that it was so expensive, usually because it had to be brought from great distances. like India. So only the very wealthy could afford black pepper. That pointed to Chili's second big virtue.
Cheap: Chili peppers did not have to be imported from anywhere. They could grow right there in Europe. So all those travel costs were avoided. What's more, chilis delivered a lot more firepower per ounce than did black peppercorns. Remember, the hotness molecule in a chili is 100 times more powerful than the hotness molecule in a peppercorn. That means chilies deliver what we today call "more bang for the buck."
In practical terms, that meant that the pleasures of fiery food were no longer a luxury reserved to the rich. With the arrival of chilies in Europe, most households could then afford the pleasures of food that burns your mouth.
Easy: Finally, chili peppers were easy to grow. They grow almost anywhere as long as the nights do not get too cold. That meant most any household could grow its own peppers. And many did.
People far and wide immediately recognized the wonderfulness of chili peppers. The plants spread quickly southwards to Africa, northwards into northern Europe and Scandinavia, and eastwards to the Near and Far East.
Chili peppers quickly worked their way into many of the favorite dishes of many different countries. The table at the right lists a dozen countries — ll in addition to countries in the Americas — in which chili peppers now play a very prominent role in many of their favorite national foods.