Editing Chili pepper (section)

=== Distribution to Europe ===

{{further|Columbian exchange}}

When [[Christopher Columbus]] and his crew reached the Caribbean, they were the first Europeans to encounter ''Capsicum'' fruits. They called them "peppers" because, like [[black pepper]] (''Piper nigrum''), which had long been known in Europe, they have a hot spicy taste unlike other foods.<ref name="cabi_2000">{{cite book |vauthors=Bosland PW, Votava E |title=Peppers: Vegetable and Spice Capsicums |date=2000 |publisher=[[Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International|CABI]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-85199-335-5 |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESCNZMvMAYAC |access-date=29 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cpi.nmsu.edu/chile-info/for-kids-pages/the-story-of-chile-peppers.html |title=The Story of Chile Peppers |website=New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute |access-date=7 August 2024}}</ref> Chilies were first brought back to Europe by the Spanish, who financed Columbus's voyages, at the start of the large-scale interchange of plants and culture between the New World and the Old World called the [[Columbian exchange]]. Chilies appear in Spanish records by 1493. Unlike ''[[Piper (plant)|Piper]]'' vines, which grow naturally only in the [[tropics]], chilies could be grown in [[temperate climate]]s. By the mid-1500s, they had become a common garden plant in Spain and were incorporated into numerous dishes. By 1526, they had appeared in Italy, in 1543 in Germany, and by 1569 in the Balkans, where they came to be processed into [[paprika]].<ref name="Sauer">{{cite book |vauthors=Sauer JD |title=Historical Geography of Crop Plants A Select Roster |date=2017 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-351-44062-2 |page=161}}</ref><ref name=Raghavan>{{cite book |author=S Raghavan |title=Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings |date=2006 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4200-0436-6 |page=8}}</ref>