Spicy Foods Around the World

Some people love food that makes their mouth feel like it is on fire. Spicy food is popular in many countries around the world. Chili peppers are the main source of spicy heat in most cuisines. The burning feeling you get from spicy food comes from a chemical in peppers called capsaicin. Different cultures have been using spicy ingredients for thousands of years.

Spicy Foods in Different Countries

Many countries are famous for their spicy dishes. In India, curries are made with hot chili peppers and warming spices. Thailand uses bird's eye chili peppers that are tiny but extremely hot. Mexican food features jalapeños, habaneros, and other peppers. Korean kimchi has a spicy kick from red pepper flakes. In Ethiopia, the spice blend berbere makes stews fiery and flavorful.

Why Spicy Food Burns

The burning feeling from spicy food comes from capsaicin, a chemical found in chili peppers. Capsaicin tricks your mouth into thinking it is actually hot, like touching something warm. The Scoville scale measures how spicy a pepper is. Bell peppers have zero Scoville units. Jalapeños have about 5,000. The Carolina Reaper, one of the hottest peppers, has over 2 million Scoville units.

Fun Facts

• The Carolina Reaper is one of the hottest peppers in the world, with over 2 million Scoville units.
• Capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers spicy, does not actually burn you. It just tricks your nerves.
• Drinking milk helps cool down the burning feeling from spicy food because milk contains casein, which washes away capsaicin.

Did You Know?

Birds cannot taste capsaicin at all, so they eat chili peppers without feeling any burn. This helps spread pepper seeds to new places!