November and its 30 days have been given many designations in the culinary world. It’s National Turkey, Pecan, Raisin Bread and Vegan Month to mention a few. But I’m almost sure no one would have guessed that it is also National Pepper Month. 

There are thousands of varieties of peppers worldwide coming in many colors, flavors, shapes, heat level and sizes. Columbus, while searching for the scarce and valuable black pepper in the Caribbean, found these spicy fruits that we call vegetables. 

The most popular and most consumed of all peppers is the bell pepper.  It is the only member of the Capsicum family that doesn’t produce any capsaicin, which is the compound that produces heat in chili peppers. The term “bell pepper” goes back centuries as Lionel Wafer, a ship’s surgeon, wrote about them in 1699. In 1774 Edward Long listed nine varieties of Capsicum being cultivated in Jamaica: “the bell pepper is esteemed most proper for pi...