The history of sweet pepper, or why Bulgarian pepper? Bulgarian pepper Sweet pepper, Sweet pepper.

The great-grandfather of sweet bell pepper comes from America, although initially it was not sweet at all. For many, the history of origin remains a mystery ...

It is cultivated as an agricultural crop mainly in the southern temperate, subtropical and tropical latitudes on all continents. In the middle lane, Bulgarian pepper is grown in greenhouses; The optimal temperature for the growth and development of this plant is 18-25 °C.

The homeland of pepper is America, and it can still be found in the wild in Mexico, Colombia and the countries of Central America. After the discovery of America, pepper was brought first to Spain and Portugal, and then to other European countries and the Middle East.

The benefits of bell pepper, due to its rich vitamin and mineral composition, are undeniable. It contains beta-carotene (vitamin A) and vitamin C, which increase immunity, stimulate the growth of nails and hair, and also improve visual acuity, the condition of the skin and mucous membranes.

As already noted, bell peppers can most often be found on sale in three different colors - red, yellow and green. These are different varieties of bell peppers.

Red pepper contains a large amount of vitamin A - 125 micrograms, while green and yellow peppers have 18 and 10 micrograms, respectively. Red pepper is also rich in vitamin C - 200 mg per 100 grams of bell pepper, which is 200% of the daily requirement. Red peppers are high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that reduces the risk of cancer.

Yellow peppers contain minimal amounts of lycopene, the red pigment, but contain carotenoids that give the yellow color. this type of sweet pepper is the champion in its content of potassium - 218 mg per 100 grams, while in red - 163 mg, in green - 175 mg. As you know, potassium is very good for the heart. In addition, yellow pepper contains a lot of phosphorus - 24 mg per 100 grams.
Phosphorus is involved in the formation of the skeletal system, and ensures the normal functioning of the kidneys and cell growth.

Green pepper contains phytosterols - complex chemical compounds, vegetable analogues of cholesterol. Their molecules are involved in lipid metabolism, reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol. Green pepper is less calorie - 20 kilocalories per 100 grams.

The taste of bell pepper!

Sweet bell pepper has a neutral slightly sweet taste. The degree of ripeness affects the taste of pepper.
The combination of bell pepper with other products
Bulgarian pepper goes well with any vegetables, as well as meat.

The use of bell pepper in cooking!

Bulgarian pepper is widely used in cooking. It is consumed fresh, salted, marinated, canned, fried, grilled, stuffed with meat, vegetables and other products. Peppers are used to make lechos and sauces, and are also added to salads, soups, stewed with vegetables or meat.
Features of cooking bell pepper

Bulgarian pepper is eaten both fresh and cooked: it is fried, stewed, stuffed, grilled. To preserve a large amount of vitamin C, which contains Bulgarian pepper, it is recommended to use it fresh.

Storing bell pepper

Peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for 30 to 50 days. The optimum temperature for storing sweet peppers is 0-1°C at a relative humidity of 90-95%.
Traditional role in dishes

Sweet bell pepper is one of the most common types of vegetables used in the cuisines of the peoples of the world. It is used in salads, soups, appetizers, second courses and even pies are prepared from it. In dried form, bell pepper is the familiar paprika to all of us.

The history of the origin of bell pepper

Bulgarian pepper - one of the oldest vegetables, which is more than 9 thousand years old - came to us from America. Archaeological excavations in Peru, Mexico and Central America have shown that pepper has been cultivated and eaten here since the dawn of agriculture, six thousand years BC.

The first mention of peppers dates back to 1494 - the physician Columbus mentions them in his notes. The Indians ate pepper instead of salt.

In Russia, the appearance of sweet pepper is attributed to the end of the 16th century, it was brought to us from Iran and Turkey, and it acquired industrial importance only by the middle of the 19th century.

Large-fruited varieties of sweet pepper were bred in Bulgaria, which is why it is called Bulgarian. From Bulgaria, sweet pepper came at the end of the 17th century to Ukraine, Moldova and southern Russia.

At first, sweet pepper was used as a cure for anemia, dizziness and asthma, and only much later they began to use it in cooking, paying tribute to its taste.

Influence on the human body, beneficial substances

In bell pepper, especially in red and yellow, there is more vitamin C than in lemon and even in black currant. Especially a lot of vitamin C near the stem.

The B vitamins found in sweet peppers are useful for insomnia and general body fatigue, memory impairment, stress and depression, and diabetes. Vitamins P and C help strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Zinc, iron, calcium, iodine, magnesium, phosphorus, and other microelements that make up bell peppers are indispensable for anemia, osteoporosis, disruption of the sebaceous and sweat glands, as well as vitamin deficiency.

The substance capsaicin contained in bell pepper stimulates appetite, and also stimulates the stomach and pancreas and lowers blood pressure, prevents the formation of blood clots.

Care should be taken when using sweet bell pepper in the presence of the following diseases: heart rhythm disturbances, hemorrhoids, colitis, stomach and duodenal ulcers, gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice, exacerbation of chronic diseases of the liver and kidneys, increased excitability of the nervous system, severe ischemic disease (angina pectoris), epilepsy.

After heat treatment, bell pepper will not harm the stomach.

You can find a couple of versions on the Internet. According to the first version...

This linguistic penetration occurred in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, along with settlers from Bulgaria, who were allowed to settle Zaporozhye and Bessarabia. They brought with them the seeds of sweet pepper, already widespread in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, which, through Odessa and what was then New Russia, got into the middle part of Russia, and then into the Russian language.

The second version says that this happened closer to the 50-60s of the last century, when Bulgaria, which suddenly became socialist, began to massively supply its agricultural products to the USSR market, including pepper. And to the question of the buyer: “What kind of vegetable (pepper) is this?”, The seller in the market or in the store invariably answered “Bulgarian”, meaning the country of origin. That's where it all seems to have started.

But in fact, the birthplace of such pepper is the south of North America, in particular Mexico. The largest sweet pepper plantations in the world are still concentrated there today. But in 1493, the seeds of pepper, which was grown by the Aztecs, were brought by sailors to Spain, and from there to other European countries. According to the Spanish historian, missionary and monk of the Franciscan order Bernardino de Sahagún, who worked and died in Mexico, vegetable pepper - Capsicum annuum, has been known to Europe since at least 1529.

Now sweet pepper is bred in the southern temperate, subtropical and tropical latitudes of all continents. Including in Bulgaria, where breeders once bred their large-fruited varieties. From there, pepper, in particular, a popular variety called kamba (bell) in Bulgaria, migrated to the tables of Soviet citizens, receiving the name "Bulgarian" as a reward. Which, by the way, is surprised by the Bulgarian Wikipedia, considering it an entertaining fact.

In Bulgaria itself, he is a “sweet piper”. And in many European countries, despite the local "nicknames", the name paprika has taken root - both pepper and the spice that is made from it. Although sweet peppers are called peberfrugt (pepper-fruit) in Denmark, in France they are called poivron. They gave him their names in other latitudes. In Brazil, for example, it is called the big pepper - Pimentão, in Costa Rica - sweet chile (chile dulce). The Bashkirs saw in it only "kyzyl boros" - red pepper. And in some regions of the US states of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, even ... mangoes! Although this is not directly related to tropical fruit. It's just a habit. Once upon a time, mangoes were available there only in canned form, which is why the locals began to call all pickled vegetables, including peppers, mango.

Among my acquaintances there are several people who are perplexed and even indignant at the fact that in Russian sweet pepper is for some reason called “Bulgarian”, and not Serbian, Russian, Ukrainian or American-Mexican. “And anyway, who are these Bulgarians? they grimace in arrogant contempt. “There, they even raked the Greeks up for themselves and call them theirs.” Among other things, according to these wise men, the Bulgarians have the impermissible impudence to celebrate May 24 not at the circle-school-amateur, but at the state level, declaring it, oh horror and indecency, not the Day of Slavic-International, but exclusively Bulgarian literature and culture.

In the same vein, some of these people draw sarcastic analogies in the style of an 80th level Petrosian, according to which the cunning Proto-Bulgarians treacherously wormed their way into the ranks of the Incas, Mayans and other Indians of North and South America, after which they subcutaneously rubbed themselves into the confidence of Columbus, returned to the Old World with him and brought this vegetable here, and with it gonorrhea and syphilis, of course.

In fact, I have come across several credible versions of why in Russian the thick-walled sweet pepper is called “Bulgarian”. According to the first, this linguistic penetration took place in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, along with settlers from Bulgaria, who were allowed to settle Zaporozhye and Bessarabia. They brought with them the seeds of sweet pepper, already widespread in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, which, through Odessa and what was then New Russia, got into the middle part of Russia, and then into the Russian language.

The second version says that this happened closer to the 50-60s of the last century, when Bulgaria, which suddenly became socialist, began to massively supply its agricultural products to the USSR market, including pepper.And to the question of the buyer: “What kind of vegetable (pepper) is this?”, The seller in the market or in the store invariably answered “Bulgarian”, meaning the country of origin. That's where it all seems to have started.

I like the second version better. And all because I know for sure how and why the construction and repair tool, which is known throughout the world as a "flex machine" or "angle grinder" ( angle drive grinder), began to be referred to in Russian only as "Bulgarian".

The fact is that in the 70s, the large state enterprise Glavbolgarstroy massively erected residential and industrial facilities on the territory of the USSR, including in climatic conditions close to extreme. Bulgarian builders cut metal fittings with German-made flex machines, and did not cut with chisels, sawed with hacksaws for metal or cut with welding and gas cutters, as was customary in those parts. Very quickly, this shrill machine, with which the Bulgarian builders managed very famously, just like with their grumpy wife on the slopes of Staraya Planina or the Rhodopes, received the name "Bulgarian" from their Russian colleagues, and then found its place in wide use.

Well, in Bulgaria, the cult of pepper. It is widely sold not only fresh, but also in dry form. True, in a fresh form, Bulgarian, it already happens only in season.In many households, it is harvested in autumn for future use, like dried fruits or wild mushrooms in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Thank God, in the capital you can still buy it in stores, which I did when I was recently in Sofia.

The smell of this pepper is amazing. Opening its packaging, you can fully feel the surge of vitality and indestructible craving for a real grinder, which is quite a living woman, and not an angle grinder in the Far North.Such a product is especially useful during Great Lent, when there are not enough flavors and sensations of summer. Therefore, I will demonstrate 2 recipes using dried bell pepper.

Dried peppers are poured with hot water for 15-20 minutes.

This is what it looks like after some time

Place 2 pans on the stove. Chop leek or onion.

Fry the leeks for five minutes, then add the carrots. Add the paprika to the leek pan

Stir and add pre-boiled beans, if necessary, add a little broth in which it was cooked.

Align with spices, pepper and salt.

Stir in beans and let cool. In parallel, we are engaged in the second filling - add washed rice to the fried leek.

Then add sauerkraut, simmer for about 10 minutes and add paprika

Simmer for about 20 minutes more, adding water as needed. Now season with savory. Let's cool down.

We stuff the softened peppers with two types of filling.Lubricate the baking dish, lay the peppers, sprinkle them with oil. Now we pour a little tomato juice or water, in which the peppers were soaked, and send the form to the oven, heated to 160 degrees, covering the peppers with foil. Bake for about 50 minutes.

The taste is excellent. I like beans better.

Do you know what I'm all about? Today is the Day of Bulgaria's liberation from the Turkish yoke. In gratitude and memory of this, there is still a monument to Tsar Liberator Alexander II in the center of Sofia, and on, in which the remains of Russian soldiers and Bulgarian militias found their rest. In addition to these monuments, Alyosha has been installed and will always stand in Plovdiv, and in the center of Sofia there is still a monument to the Soviet army, even though vandals paint them from time to time. There are enough freaks everywhere, because even in Russia you can often meet the Nazi salute. In Russia, which lost millions of people at the hands of the Nazis!

But that's not the point. The main thing is that we found out why the pepper is called "Bulgarian".

Why is bell pepper called bell pepper?

The homeland of the well-known bell pepper is actually the American continent - to this day, a wild variety of sweet pepper is common in Mexico, Colombia and Central America
Spain was the first European country to start growing an overseas curiosity. And the pepper got its familiar name thanks to the work of Bulgarian breeders, through the efforts of which sweet, large-fruited varieties were bred.
The usefulness of this type of pepper is primarily determined by the high content of vitamin C - in terms of its amount, some varieties even surpass lemons and black currants. At the same time, there are no enzymes in the plant that destroy this vitamin during canning, so in winter, our favorite pickled dacha pepper is no less useful than fresh purchased one. And the combination of vitamins C and P helps strengthen the walls of blood vessels - ascorutin has a similar effect. Moreover, the daily requirement for these vitamins can be satisfied by eating only 40-50 grams of vegetables per day. In addition, "Bulgarian" is rich in mineral salts of magnesium, iron, aluminum, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon and potassium, contains fiber, pectin and volatile essential oils. It is not for nothing that in folk medicine this plant is used for problems with hematopoiesis, for hypotension, diabetes mellitus, and disruption of the normal growth of nails and hair.
So it is not surprising that sweet pepper has firmly established itself in our beds - it is both tasty and healthy. It is only too thermophilic for our latitudes - it is perhaps impossible to get a good harvest without a greenhouse. And domestic gardeners begin to sow the seeds of this crop to obtain seedlings at the end of January. Is it correct? After all, the authors of many popular vegetable growing manuals recommend planting no more than two-month-old seedlings in greenhouses. However, as a rule, a reservation is made there that in more northern latitudes it is possible to sow pepper seeds 90 days before the main transplant. Apparently, this advice was adopted by the Belarusian summer residents and turned out to be right.
Are there any differences in growing seedlings of peppers and tomatoes - after all, both plants belong to the nightshade family? According to experienced gardeners, pepper seeds are more capricious and take longer to germinate. And indeed, despite the fact that the swelling process begins at +13 ° C, and in some varieties even at +10 ° C, growth is very slow, and seedlings appear only on the 18-25th day after sowing. At a temperature of + 20-25 ° C, pepper seeds will sprout already on the 7-9th day.
Seedlings are very sensitive to cold - seedlings need a lot of heat, and + 20-30 degrees is considered optimal. At temperatures below +15 degrees, the growth and development of plants are delayed, and at +13 and below, they stop altogether. Also, young peppers, unlike tomatoes, do not like transplanting very much - they take root in a new place for a long time. Therefore, on the eve of the pick, you should take care of finding pots of a suitable size. It should also be taken into account that this vegetable is demanding on heat - extreme hardening is not for it, and transplanting into the ground is carried out only after the danger of frost has passed.
If you have sown seeds with a margin, and you don’t know where to put the extra seedlings, it doesn’t matter, sweet pepper will live on your balcony with pleasure and even winter on the windowsill in a city apartment. And you will see that this is really a perennial plant. True, pepper may lose some of the leaves, but in the spring new shoots will appear on the bush, then flowers and ovaries. Only in order for a full-fledged fruit to grow, the plant will need a large "living space" - about a bucket of earth per bush. Consider this circumstance, and you will not have to run to the store for a vitamin treat.

Pepper is an annual herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family, as well as its fruits. It is worth distinguishing this crop from black pepper, the latter belongs to the Pepper family. The homeland of pepper is South and Central America, wild species of this plant still grow in its tropical regions.

Pepper is considered one of the most ancient vegetables, it began to be cultivated for several tens of centuries BC. After European sailors in the XV century. came to Central America, pepper became known in Europe.

The first fruits of pepper appeared in Europe thanks to the expedition of Columbus. And as a vegetable crop, it began to be grown a few years later. After Europe, pepper came to Turkey, from there to Bulgaria, then Moldova, Ukraine and southern regions of Russia.

❧ Peppers do not contain enzymes that destroy vitamins during canning. Therefore, in winter, a canned homemade priest will bring almost as much benefit as fresh vegetables in the summer.

At first, this vegetable was a real rarity, it was grown primarily as a medicinal plant with a high content of vitamins in fruits. Then the palatability of pepper was appreciated, and breeding work began with it. As a result, this vegetable got the opportunity to grow in more severe conditions than in its homeland, its fruits became larger and more tasty. It was also possible to increase the yield of pepper. Currently, pepper is very popular, so the selection work continues to this day.

Pepper varieties are divided into sweet and hot, or bitter.

Useful properties of pepper

Some varieties of sweet peppers contain more vitamin C than lemons or currants. In addition, pepper is rich in vitamins P, B, E, phosphorus, magnesium, fiber, iron, potassium, essential oils. The alkaloid capsaicin, which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the circulatory system, helps with colds and respiratory diseases, gives the hotness to hot peppers. There is very little capsaicin in sweet peppers, some varieties are completely devoid of it, so if there are no contraindications, sweet peppers can be used in conjunction with hot peppers.

Bell pepper

Also called bell pepper. It is one of the most valuable vegetable crops. No vegetable contains as much vitamin C as bell peppers. According to the content of vitamin A, peppers can be compared with carrots. It is also rich in rutin, sugars, B vitamins and essential oils.

Sweet and hot peppers should not be planted side by side, otherwise the fruits of sweet pepper will turn out hot.