why do they call it a ''bell pepper'' when it is not a pepper?

Answer 1

The bell pepper refers to the actual fruit of the capsicum plant. Outside of the United States bell peppers are commonly called paprika in areas such as Japan, Scandinavia, Hungary and Indonesia, capsicum in India, Malaysia and Australia, and mangoes[1] (or mangos) in parts of the US around southern Ohio, Indiana, and northern Kentucky (and should not be confused with the tropical fruit known properly as a mango). In Russia it is commonly called болгарский перец (bolgarskiy perets), meaning Bulgarian pepper. Bell peppers contain a recessive gene that eliminates the capsaicin in the fruit.

The color can be green, red, yellow, orange and, more rarely, white, purple and brown depending on when they are harvested. Green peppers are unripe bell peppers, while the others are all ripe, with the color variation due to cultivar selection. Because they are unripe, green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow, orange, or red peppers, which all taste similar. The taste of ripe peppers can also vary with growing conditions and post-harvest storage treatment; the sweetest are fruit allowed to ripen fully on the plant in full sunshine, while fruit harvested green and after-ripened in storage are less sweet. Peppers were grown in Central and South America in pre-Columbian times. Pepper seeds were later carried to Spain in 1493 and from there spread to other European and Asian countries.

Answer 2

But it is a pepper!!

Bell peppers, so-named for their rather bell-like shape. They have a mild, sweet flavor and crisp, exceedingly juicy flesh. When young, the majority of bell peppers are a rich, bright green, but there are also yellow, orange, purple, red and brown bell peppers. The red bells are simply vine-ripened green bell peppers that, because they've ripened longer, are very sweet. Bell peppers vary from 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 inches long and from 2-1/2 to 4 inches wide. Green bell peppers are available all year long, while the red, orange, yellow, purple and brown varieties are found sporadically throughout the year. With their tops cut off and seeds removed, bell peppers are excellent for stuffing with a variety of fillings.

Answer 3

Pepper (piper negrum) are the fruit of a vine native to S. India. Capsicum (chili) are the fruit of four genuses of nightshades (which include tomatoes) and are native to South America. Interestingly, there were no tomatoes or chilis anywhere in the world except the Americas in precolumbian times.

When Columbus brought dried chilis back to Spain in 1493, they were a hit! Someone commented that they were "hotter" than pepper, and the name stuck.

I m a world traveler and a true chili lover, and I can say the only place in the world that chilis (capsicum) are still referred to as "peppers" is in North America (i.e., English-speaking Canada and USA). They are now cultivated all over the world and quite common everywhere but W Europe.

Answer 4

If it's not a pepper, then what is it?

Answer 5

they are peppers, but I don't agree with wikipedia on them being called mangoes on southern Ohio. I live in Southern Ohio and they are advertised as bell peppers at the grocery store.

Answer 6

Shaped like a bell and sweet fleshed, these members of the pepper family are consumed raw or cooked. Most commonly found are unripe green and ripened red or yellow varieties.

Yes they are.

Answer 7

i thought it was a pepper. you mean its not a pepper?

Answer 8

They call in "capsicum" in Singapore & Malaysia.

Answer 9

Its not a bell either is it?