It all started with a simple question- when did Thai food become spicy?
From there, we did our best to find an answer that’s never before been properly explained, unraveling the entire story of the post-Columbian spice trade, taking us to the ports of southern Africa, the kitchens of Gujarat, and the central Asian plateau as we follow the written, genetic, and linguistic history of the humble chili from the New World to the Far East.
This is our attempt at telling the story of the history of the chili pepper: history’s spiciest conquest.
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0:00 – Intro
1:13 – Jungle Curry
3:36 – Two Peppers with Two Origins
4:44 – Black Gold
8:35 – The Mission
9:37 – Where Chilis Started
11:24 – Aztecs, Mayans, and Mexican Food
12:36 – From the Americas to the World
15:31 – India
16:59 – Two Strains Collide
18:42 – Sichuan Spicy Chicken
21:00 – Trade Routes to China
23:42 – Thailand
25:37 – 1512 to 1800
27:23 – The Ludicrous Story of the Bell Pepper
29:55 – Conclusion
31:37 – Goombah
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Video Credits:
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23 Comments
Let me apologize for my voice in this video- it's actually the reason we took on this topic this week; something I've been working on as a side project for quite some time but never fit it into our filming schedule. All three of us- Jaspar, Daria, and myself, got knocked out by this flu that's been kicking around Bangkok lately, and it meant we had to delay filming and readjust as a video we could do on a short production schedule. But in the end it did let us finally get to a subject that's been fascinating me since we got here. Thanks for your understanding!
Here are the location pins from this video:
Ba Chao Jungle Food: https://goo.gl/maps/5U4gt3WKwoc5nFkA8
Wraptor (Ari): https://goo.gl/maps/DQWCJLpFkSx5euXh7
Shree Khodiyar Kathiyawadi Dhaba: https://goo.gl/maps/VeWpn2zYokKPsZA17
Chuan Wei Fang: https://goo.gl/maps/bacWezd2N6GPqCut9
Brilliant research and presentation ! Imagine a world with out chocolate ,chillies,potatos, maize,tobacco, tomatoes,all gifts from the new world , carried by bold spanish and portuguese sea rovers.
2:45 my mouth was watering just looking at the food. I want some! 🌶️
Deserves a doctorate. Convert the content to a paper with research references and archive it. Excellent. One connected world.
What next Onions, Potatoes, Chicken, the word Mom in so many languages.
Let's just stick to the fact that different varieties of chillis already existed way before all of these colonial expeditions went down. The notion that it was "exported" through different places from one origin is kind of a stretch tbh. It's like saying air originally came from China and was just spread all over the world by the internet so everyone can breathe. 😂
It's always fascinated me how the regional cuisines in China differed from spiciness. For example, my native Guangzhou cuisine is not very spicy, but given its historical place as a major port I'd have expected chillis to arrive and had longer to incorporate into the local cuisine! Now it all makes sense, that the ruling elite were not interested in adding the spice into their cuisine, but instead the mountain dwelling regions took to it via the silk road first instead!
Amazing video, love the history content!
I find myself tempted far more to try & eat peppers/spicy foods than I am any kind of sweets. There is something really great about how many things that you can make using so many different peppers. We have a rest. here called Thai Blossom. My wife suggested trying their food and she is not into any spicy foods at all. Everything we tried that evening was fantastic. I went out on a buying spree for different curry spices after that. Love the different taste. Shalom
There are a few relevant omissions.
The main route Mexican chili arrived in Asia was through the "Nao de China" that started trade from today's Philippines and Mexico from 1565 onwards.
The red bell pepper is the adaptation of the poblano chile to Spain, that pepper turns sweet just after a few generation (about 2 years)
Spaniards' also found out that some other varieties of chiles would remain hot when grown in their north African colonies (I.e. Morocco and the Canary Islands).
The only Latin-American countries that have chili in their typical food are México, Perú and to a lesser degree Guatemala.
Capsicum Annuum has a Mexican origin and Capsicum
Frutescens origin is Peruvian.
Chesse dip is not Mexican food, it is a US thing you don't find in Mexico unless you're in an US restaurant food chain.
Portugal got access to chili in Africa from the Spanish colonies trough trade and the rest is history, The Portuguese didn't really go inland n Brazil, they remained mostly close to the sea (check the location of most of the city's they founded) and it's really unlikely they had access to the wild chilis from deep in the Amazon.
Love that the image flashed in synch with "cultures" is a man who did his absolute best to eradicate culture and history.
It's not like food in the western (or eastern!) world was entirely without spice before the introduction of the chilli pepper and normal pepper. In medieval times, people would use raw onion, horseradish or mustard seeds to add spice to a dish. That can't possibly rise to the level that chillies do, obviously, but neither is it bland food 🙂
My man Mao had some good slogans! Granted he accidentally starved nearly 100 million ppl b/c he was a dumb ass but he had the right ideas, just very poor execution (no pun intended)
LOVE HISTORY AND FOOD!!!! Tasting History with Max Miller, Townsends and now this channel! Very cool!
You should do a show about some of the other popular capsicum species. Especially Capsicum chinense, Capsicum pubescens, and Capsicum baccatum,
You deserve more follows, I will push your videos on my Twitter. If it means anything, I just want you to know a rando recognizes your talent.
Seeds don't have much capsaicin, it's the white ribs/membranes they are connected to that contain the heat…
I lived and worked in the border region of Argentina and Bolivia. What I missed most from home in California was chili. The food was excellent and fresh but was rarely spicy. Working in agriculture, I roamed the area, checking crops, meeting locals, and eating local food, mostly grilled beef and chicken, potatoes, and bread. The local tribal groups had peppers picked from the wild and all were small and round and very hot. I think they only cooked with them because the ones I ate tasted terrible. I just noticed how you described northern Bolivia as a variety hot bed. The south seemed quite the opposite.
Thank you, YouTube algorithm. For I have discovered this channel thanks to you, and I immediately subbed.
Great video on chili peppers; I was also blown away by chinese spicy flavours back when I used to live in Beijing. Mad props, man!
Always amazed by the depth of your knowledge of thai food history that exceeds every thai historians in the history
love peppers. the spicier the better.
of course there's a limit, i'm afraid to try each new one. spiciest i've been able to try is scorpion peppers, my boss grows them. they're great but give me a stomach ache.
First Nations Domesticated 60% of the World's Food – Read '1491" by Charles Mann
So interesting!!!!! I knew the history of the chili pepper was fascinating and colorful but damn you brought it to view on a diff level!!! Instant sub!!!
I am ALWAYS kn the prowl for new hot sauces and regular bring bottles for my friend to try at work. Im known as the crazy guy at work that goes through a bottle a week!!!!
Im Vietnamese so i grew up eatjng spocy food and years later have a pretty high tolerance and regularly eat habaneros and reapers and stuff like that. I recently found one that brought me to my knees which hasnt happened in years so im conquering that these days 😎
Some of the best ajíes are endemic to Peru. Unfortunately difficult to find outside its borders.
No dish nor meal is complete without chili peppers