but its kingdom has absolutely no political connotation. In fact, His Majesty the peperoncino (it is similar to red chili pepper) has been reigning undisputed in the region for centuries. More precisely, since Christopher Columbus
returned from the Americas and brought along a few plants the Spanish royal family was intrigued. Chanca of Seville, the ship’s surgeon in Columbus’s fleet, observed in wonder as the natives fed on such a very hot spice they
called “agi”. It was the first peperoncino ever seen by a European, and Columbus took it to Europe where the Spanish royal family envisaged selling it as “pepper from India”. Never had a prediction been so wrong. It would soon be discovered that the peperoncino would strike root everywhere and befor e long Europe was covered with it. Mexicans learned to season their tortillas with it, Africans their manioc, and the Asians their rice. And in Italy, the use of peperoncino became especially popular in the south above all with the Calabrians. They managed to
render their plain vegetarian cooking made of humble ingredients and very little meat much more snappy with a dash of the lively peperoncino. A few years ago the Peperoncino Academy was created in Calabria as a non-profit organization to strengthen and diffuse “spicy culture” in Italy. Founded in 1994 in Diamante by
gourmet journalist Enzo Monaco, the Academy and its activities have quickly spread throughout Italy. Every year in September, the Peperoncino Academy holds its annual Peperoncino Festival. The Academy’s objectives are clearly
stated in article 2 of the Statute that reads verbatim: “The Association sets itself to create, strengthen and diffuse a real peperoncino culture”. Today it accounts for over five thousand members and sixty academic committees in the main Italian cities. Abroad, for now, there are only a few representation offices in the most important cities: New York, Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Basel,
Sydney, Lausanne.