Cayenne Pepper

History

The cayenne pepper takes its name from the city of Cayenne, capital of French Guiana, though the pepper itself originated in Central and South America and was cultivated throughout the region for thousands of years before European contact. The thin-fleshed cayenne was ideally suited for drying—a preservation method used by indigenous peoples long before refrigeration—and this characteristic made it one of the first peppers to become a global commodity. Portuguese and Spanish traders spread cayenne throughout Africa and Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries, where it was rapidly adopted into local cuisines from India to China to West Africa. In traditional medicine systems worldwide, cayenne became prized for its supposed ability to improve circulation and digestion, and herbalist Samuel Thomson made it a cornerstone of 19th-century American botanical medicine. The pepper's clean, uncomplicated heat—lacking the fruity complexity of habaneros or the earthiness of dried Mexican chiles—made cayenne the default "hot pepper" for adding spice to any cuisine. Today, cayenne powder is found in virtually every spice rack in America, and the pepper serves as the base for iconic products from Louisiana hot sauce to Tabasco. Commercial cayenne production spans the globe, with major cultivation in India, Mexico, and the American South.