Chilis: Biology, History, Travels, Cuisine
Course Description
Chili peppers are known, used, treasured, and sometimes feared worldwide. They are grown in astonishing variety even though they are used most often to flavor food. Yet the first chili peppers evolved and were used in what Europeans call the New World (Central and South America). That origin is a surprise to people from places where chilis are an integral part of cuisine, like India or China. What drove chilis to Africa and Asia were spices. We’ll start with spices before chilis: what they are, where grown, how they taste. Then we’ll describe the great journeys of the chili pepper, and also how we taste and smell chilis and other foods. Chilis are now an integral part of many cuisines—from Hungarian paprika in Europe to Szechuan fried chilis in China to scotch bonnet peppers in Jamaica. We'll explore many of these in readings and student presentations, do hands-on explorations of spices, chilis, and chili-based products, and in some sessions make foods (such as harissa, roasted peppers, chili-crisp-flavored salad) to get a feel for the diverse uses of chili peppers. And we do one field trip to (what is probably) the last chili farm in Palo Alto.
Meet the Instructor: Shripad Tuljapurkar
"I research and teach evolution, ecology and demography in the Biology department. I have worked on policy (for the Social Security administration), aging across the world (for the International Union for the Scientific Study of Populations), and even in business (started and ran a company for 5 years). I'm active in many areas of research (mainly the dynamics, evolution, ecology and history of many things—plants and mammals, insects, mortality and health, sex bias against women, prehistoric humans and agriculture). I love history, travel, food, and cooking with spices and heat in many cuisines. In travels and cooking and eating, I've seen many forms of chilis in use around the United States, Central and South America, Europe, India, China and other parts of the world—and in the local area. Besides food and cooking, I enjoy hikes, flyfishing, birding and the outdoors."
Of related interest
Books to Bollywood
Chemistry in the Kitchen (Winter Quarter)
