Speaking of chili peppers!

Chili peppers, peppers seeds and ground chili are popular spices around the world.  The many varieties of chili peppers differ in shape, colour, flavour, and pungency.  Each type adding its unique flavour and aroma to steaks, stews, soups and sauces, making the red-hot chili peppers an important item on your spice shelf.  The most famous dish is chili con carne. 

The chili pepper is the fruit of one of a number of species in the genus Capsicum, belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae).  The nightshade family contains many well-known food plants such as the closely related bell peppers and the more distantly related tomatoes and potatoes. 

Chili peppers and their various cultivars originate in South and Central America and are cultivated around the world as spices, vegetables and healing plants.  Chili peppers and their products have several medicinal functions as decongestants and pain killers, they are rich source of vitamin C and have antibacterial properties.  Chili is also used in pepper sprays and organic pesticides!