Chilli: The Fruit That Weaponised Flavour audio documentary cover
Culture 30 min

Chilli: The Fruit That Weaponised Flavour

A plant's chemical weapon rewrote the world's palate in five hundred years

Before 1500, chilli peppers did not exist outside the Americas. In 500 years, they became the defining spice of Indian, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Ethiopian cuisine. This is the story of how the poorest people on earth took a plant's chemical weapon and turned it into culture, identity, and power.

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chilli peppers capsaicin food history Columbian Exchange spice trade evolution biology Indian cuisine Sichuan Korean cuisine Ethiopian cuisine Portuguese empire Nobel Prize David Julius TRPV1 Scoville scale Ed Currie Carolina Reaper Pepper X poverty and food cultural identity domestication
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