Bell Peppers

The Bell Pepper Plant

Mild-mannered cousins to the chili pepper, bell peppers are boxy-shaped fruits that are enjoyed as vegetables. All sweet (and most hot) varieties of peppers grown in the U.S. are Capsicum annuum , while C. frutescens produces the small, thin-skinned pepper from which Tabasco sauce is made, and C. chinense is the habaneros, the hottest of the peppers. There are hundreds of capsicum cultivars, including the red, heart-shaped pimento, the slender, light green bulls horn, the long, yellow-to-red Cubanelle, and the sweet yellow banana pepper. And new cultivars are being developed all the time, with different shapes and colors, sometimes depending upon the environment in which they're grown.

An herbaceous annual, Capsicum annuum belongs to the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, along with potatoes. While it's a cold-sensitive plant and needs hot, dry weather to mature, it's also sensitive to sun scald. The fruit of the bell pepper--which follows the white flowers--has three or four lobes on its tapered bottom. The peppers can be green, yellow, orange, red, brown, or purple, depending upon the variety and stage of ripeness; green peppers are unripe and stronger-flavored, while red ones are riper and sweeter (and higher in vitamins A and C).

Bell peppers rate a zero on the Scoville Organoleptic test, a popular scale for measuring the hotness of peppers, from 0 (no heat) to 300,000 (hottest) heat units. (What the scale measures is the capsaicin content, the crystalline, pungent substance that gives chilies their fire; bells are lacking this substance.)

A Glance Back

South Americans used capsicums to flavor foods 6,000 years ago, as evidenced by findings in prehistoric Peruvian sites.

It was Columbus who delivered the peppers to Europe, though, after incorrectly naming them. Remember that in his quest to find a spice route to Asia, Columbus bumped into America and was a bit confused about where he was? Well, in his haste to find the prized black pepper, he apparently named the capsicums he found in the Americas "peppers." Actually, they're in no way related to the black peppercorns of the Piper niger family that he sought. But the name stuck, so now we call capsicums--as well as the peppercorns--all by the name of "pepper."

Using Bell Peppers

Dehydrated bell peppers are convenient for adding to soups, stews, marinades, sauces, and dips. They're also perfect for camping mixes--add to your grains or seasoning combinations for delicious (and light in the backpack) fare.

You can also use dried bell peppers anyplace you'd use fresh. Just rehydrate them before adding to dishes in which they won't be soaking in liquid--like omelets, beans, wraps, salads, and stir fries. To rehydrate, simply soak one part peppers in two parts cold water for about an hour. To substitute for fresh peppers in a recipe, use about 1 Tablespoon dried sweet red pepper for about 3 tablespoons chopped bell peppers.

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