Re: [CH] naming conventions

Jonathan T. Smillie (jsmillie@protix.com)
Tue, 20 Jan 1998 10:15:43 -0600 

At 08:45 AM 1/20/98 -0400, Mary Going wrote:
>Recently, I changed my signature to say "Absolutely Everything About Chile
>Peppers." Someone wrote to me and said "chile" and "peppers" is redundant,
>so I changed it to "Absolutely Everything About Hot Chiles." Now, someone
>wants to know what a chile is. She asks the difference between a chile and
>a pepper... I think both questions are interesting. So,
>
>What is the difference between a chile and a pepper?
>Can a bell pepper be called a chile?
>If not, where is the line drawn?
>Are chiles always hot?
>What is a chile?

Mary: 

I too have been called to account for the redundant use of the words
"chile" and "pepper". While I appreciate that to those of us on this list,
the words are synonymous,  I believe that to the vast majority of the
general public, the designation "chile pepper" helps to distinguish those
capsicums (capsica?) which are perceptibly hot, as distinguished from bell
peppers. 
The person who pointed out the redundancy in my chile vocabulary maintained
that in Spanish, the word "chile" means "pepper." I'd be curious to know-
is the same word employed in that language for non-hot peppers (i.e. bells)
as for hot (i.e. chiles)? 

Pending that clarification, my answers to your questions (based purely on
my own opinions, and not backed up by anything approaching scientific
knowledge of the subject) are: 

1. A "pepper" is the fruit of a member plant of the genus Capsicum. A
"chile" is a Capsicum which possesses a measurable level of capsaicinoids.
Therefore, all chiles are peppers but not all peppers are chiles.   

2. No, a bell pepper cannot be called a chile, because of its demonstrable
lack of capsaicin. 

3. The line is a bit fuzzy (especially as bell peppers and capsaiciniferous
chiles can hybridize), but it seems to me that any pepper with a Scoville
value of less than 1000 (i.e. anything less hot than a cherry pepper) might
not technically be definable as a chile. 

4. Chiles always contain some level of capsaicin. Whether this is perceived
as hot or not depends on the individual chile-head. In short, yes. 

5. See point 1 for my personal, idiosyncratic definition of a chile.

Jonathan 


   
*  "What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were *
*  like a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of     *
*  methane and ammonia must be silent?                                *
*  - Richard P. Feynman (1918- 1988)                                         *