When Portuguese traders arrived on India’s western shores in the early 1500s, they brought more than religion, colonial ambition, and a lust for spice - they also carried with them a tiny, crimson fruit that would set Asia ablaze.
In part two of their deep dive into the scorching history of chili peppers, John and Patrick trace the pepper’s path across India, China, and Korea, where it would come to define cuisines, ignite revolutions, and even ward off evil spirits.
From its humble beginnings in Goan gardens to the fiery markets of Guntur, from Sichuan’s numbing heat to the fermented jars of kimchi on Seoul’s rooftops, this episode follows the trail of Capsicum as it infiltrates empires and reshapes entire culinary traditions. Along the way, we’ll meet Buddhist monks, Portuguese conquerors, imperial skeptics, Communist revolutionaries, and, of course, Wilbur Scoville—the mild-mannered American pharmacist who gave us a way to measure the madness.
Join John and Patrick for the sizzling second act of this global saga—a tale of heat, history, and the humble pepper that conquered the world.
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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
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