A brief history
From the Americas
to every table.
All chile peppers began in the Americas. Their global journey is a story of Indigenous agriculture, empire, trade, and extraordinary local adaptation.
- 01
Gathered in the Americas
Wild Capsicum fruits are eaten across Central and South America.
- 02
Domestication takes root
Indigenous farmers select peppers for fruit size, flavor, color, and pungency.
- 03
A seed circles the globe
Peppers travel from the Caribbean to Iberia, then along trade routes into Africa and Asia.
- 04
New regional languages
Chiles become essential from Hungary and Turkey to India, Thailand, Sichuan, and Mozambique.
- 05
Heat gets a scale
Wilbur Scoville devises a test for pungency, giving us Scoville Heat Units.
- 06
An expanding family
Seed keepers preserve landraces while growers breed new colors and record-breaking heat.