Love Food Editors - Chilli & Spice

If youre tired of preparing the same predictable meals and are craving something with a little more oomph, then look no further. Chilli & Spice features 101 sizzling recipes from around the globe to help jazz up your dishes warming starters, snacks and sides; fiery vegetarian, meat, and fish mains; and tantalizing sweet treats.

SPICES

In ancient times, spices were used to prevent ingredients from going off and to disguise food with strong odours and unpleasant flavours. As they became popular for their aromatic flavours, spices were integrated into everyday cuisine, with countries and regions developing their own unique signature dishes based on available indigenous spices. Over time, people discovered the remarkable medicinal properties of specific spices.

Nowadays, we may not give much thought to our ubiquitous, affordable spices as we sprinkle them liberally over ingredients, but they have an incredible history. Once the worlds biggest and most dominant industry, the spice trade produced great wealth for many nations. Spices were such precious commodities that nutmeg and pepper were worth more than gold.

The spice trade began with camel caravans in the Middle East some 4,000 years ago. Arabic spice traders spun elaborate myths about how hard the spices were to come by, thereby adding to their allure and driving up prices. The Silk Road connecting Asia with North Africa and Europe played a vital role in building mighty civilizations and empires such as those of China, India, Egypt, Persia, Arabia and Rome.

For centuries, Middle-Eastern and North African traders monopolized the spice trade, becoming increasingly wealthy and powerful, and forcing European merchants to pay excessively high prices. By the 1400s, even the nobility was struggling to pay for aromatic luxuries, so explorers were dispatched overseas in search of alternative trade routes.

First to cross the Atlantic Ocean was Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who accidentally stumbled across the Americas in 1492 while looking for precious black pepper and a more direct route to India. He discovered new fruit and vegetables, including maize, potatoes, pumpkins, pineapple, avocados and papayas, and perhaps most notably the much-loved chilli pepper.

In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first to sail directly from Africa to India. His sea route around Africa opened up trade between Europe and Asia and led to a Portuguese dominance of the spice trade that endured for centuries.

As spice cultivation began to spread around the world, availability became more widespread, and prices fell. Highly valuable spices, such as pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, are no longer the precious products they once were, but they are just as popular today, still cherished for their vibrant colours, pungent flavours and enticing aromas.

CHILLIES

Chilli peppers are the fruit pods of perennial, woody-stemmed shrubs that belong to the Capsicum genus They originate from Central America where archeologists have found traces of their consumption by humans dating back to 7500 BCE . Chillies have been used as a primary ingredient in Mexican cooking for hundreds of years.

Although chilli peppers were unheard of in Europe until Columbuss 15th-century discovery, they had already played a major part in Asian cuisine for some 2,000 years. With the increase in shipping during the 16th and 17th centuries, Indian and Chinese flavourings spread around the globe. Chillies soon became a favourite way to add piquancy to cooking, especially as they were much cheaper than pepper.

Chillies have never fallen out of favour, and today around 25 per cent of the worlds population enjoy them in their daily diet. There is a huge variety to choose from, including birds eye, Scotch bonnet, habaero and jalapeo. They are grown widely in many parts of the world as an important commercial crop, but India is the biggest cultivator, exporter and consumer of this hot pod.

As well as their fiery flavours, chillies also have many nutritional and health-boosting benefits. The pods heat-emitting chemical compound, capsaicin, has anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, and pain-relieving properties, and may also lower bad cholesterol. Fresh red and green chillies are a rich source of vitamins A, B and C, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, magnesium and copper.

Chillies can be bought fresh, dried or powdered. Fresh varieties come in vibrant colours of red, green, orange and yellow, and you should look for firm, plump ones with healthy stalks. Avoid buying chillies that are soft, discoloured, missing their caps or have spots or signs of mould. Store them in the fridge or a cool, dark place for up to two weeks, then wash before use. The most flavoursome dried chilli peppers are the sun-dried variety. Look for ones with smooth, unblemished skins with a slight bendiness to them. Use within a year.