Know your chilli peppers from your paprika - decoding that confusing terminology!

The terminology for chilli peppers can be very confusing as there are several terms (chile, chili, pepper, capsicum, pimento, ají, chile pepper,... you get the idea) used to describe this spice, but strictly speaking not all of them are accurate.

One of the first things we should perhaps clarify is the correct spelling of this word, over which there has been much debate. The three main spellings are chile, chili and chilli and all of these are accepted versions in dictionaries. The current convention for their usage is as follows:

Chilli

• comes from a Nahuatl word which the Aztecs used for these plants and their spicy fruit. It is believed that the stem of the word (i.e. 'chil-') also refers to the colour red.
• It may have first been introduced by Fernando Hernandez de Toledo, a Spanish naturalist and physician who spent several years studying medicinal plants in Mexico and the Phillipines.
• It has been suggested that locals referred to a native spice as “chee yee” and Hernandez translated this as “chilli” with two L's.
• This spelling of the word is used quite extensively by English speakers outside the US, namely in Britain, India, Australia and New Zealand.
• The accepted plural seems to be either 'chillis' or 'chillies'.

Chile

• Over time the word evolved and Spanish-speaking Mexicans changed the spelling from 'chilli' to 'chile'
• This is the version which is the most common in Mexico (obviously!) and large parts of the United States of America and Canada.

Chili

• This spelling is used quite widely in America
• But it can be confusing as for much of this country it also refers to a spicy meat stew (short for 'chili con carne'), an essential ingredient of which is chili powder, a mixture of spices such as cumin, garlic and cayenne.

At lovespicyfood.com we will stick to using 'chilli' as this is the version with which we are most familiar. However, please don't feel the need to be constrained by us – the version you use is entirely your choice. Some suggest that at the very least this could be influenced by the region from which the fruit originates. So will that be a jalapeño chile or a birds eye chilli pepper?

Capsicum vs. Pepper

Also in common usage to describe this plant or its fruit are the words 'capsicum', 'pepper' and even 'chilli pepper'.

When they were discovered by the Spanish in 1492, Christopher Columbus believed the red fruit he had sampled were related to the highly-prized peppercorns (or 'black pepper') he sought. These berries were mistakenly called 'peppers' as their taste reminded the explorers of black pepper and, much to the confusion of many, the name has stuck.

Chillies are the fruit of plants from the genus 'Capsicum', which is part of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. This family includes the likes of the potato, tomato, aubergine (or eggplant), petunia and tobacco. Plants of the Capsicum genus produce the fiery hot, hollow fruit known as chillies and these get their heat from 'capsaicin', a pungent chemical compound. These were native to South and Central America.

'Pepper' (a shortened form of peppercorn) is the dried fruit of the 'piper nigrum' plant and the heat-causing compound is 'piperine'. Peppercorns originated in South India.

So in reality 'capsicums' and 'peppers' are not the same thing nor are they even closely related. But again over time, these two terms have come to be used interchangeably when referring to chillies.

So whilst not strictly correct, saying chilli peppers makes perfect (really?) sense :-)

Other terms

Okay let's see if we can help clarify some of those confusing (well to us at least!) words we encounter when we start talking about chillies, or is that chilli peppers.....?

• Ají – The native Arawaks, from the Caribbean islands on which Columbus landed, called this pungent spice axi which is pronounced “aah hee”. Hence the Spanish version of 'ají' which is still used to refer to the hot varieties in some Caribbean islands and around South America.


• Chilli peppers – A term which is generally used to refer to the pungent fruit of the Capsicum plants.


• Pimiento/Pimientón – When Colombus and his companions discovered chillies they labelled this pungent spice pimiento, after the (as we now know, see above) unrelated pimienta or black pepper. These terms are now used in Spain when referring to peppers from the Americas, namely the ripe, red and mild fruit from the Capsicum annuum variety. Some call this a 'sweet, heart-shaped, red, thick-fleshed' pepper which is more aromatic than a red bell pepper. However there are some varieties of the pimiento type which are hot.


• Pimento – or pimentão is a Portuguese word and is a variant of 'pimiento'.
  This term is also used to refer to 'allspice', the dried, unripe berries of Pimenta dioica, a West Indian tree, which is used whole or ground as a spice.


• Paprika – a spice made from ground dried pimiento/pimento peppers. The peppers used are typically larger and milder than chilli peppers and are allowed to ripen to redness. The pungency of the spice can range from sweet and mild to hot and fiery. Smoked paprika is also available where the peppers have been slowly oak-smoked and then very finely ground.

Whilst it would be useful to adopt one universally-accepted convention for these terms, this isn't likely to happen any time soon. Besides, language is continually changing and who knows what these delightful fruits will be called in the future. The best plan would be to learn as many of the names, specific fruit types, groups or terms as possible, so you can understand these global variations. In the meantime though, chilli peppers or chiles, pimento or paprika – you take your pick, just enjoy them!