We all love adding chili pepper to our dishes to give them character and zest. That’s why Acetaia Guerzoni offers its sauces to support you in the kitchen and bring pleasure to your table. But this gift of nature hides properties that go beyond taste. It is a fascinating fruit that has played an important role in human culture as an aphrodisiac. Spicy chili is consumed daily by about a quarter of the world’s population. So, let’s discover how its spiciness has turned it into an excellent method to ward off bad luck and a powerful ally of eroticism.

Chili peppers have an ancient history. Archaeological findings show that they were used as early as 9,000 years ago and cultivated in the Americas 5,000 years before Christ. Throughout millennia, they have been used as sacred fruit, medicine, aphrodisiac, magical and torturous tool, and, of course, as a food enhancer.

Chili arrived in Europe with Christopher Columbus after the discovery of the Americas and was immediately loved by the lower and middle classes, while the aristocracy found its spicy taste vulgar. The Church foresaw its potential and condemned it as a "stirrer of impure intentions." In many cultures, chili peppers are associated with liveliness, physical performance, beauty, cunning, magic, and above all, erotic abilities. In some Italian regions, for example, chili is used as a good luck charm: it is hung behind the entrance door to ward off the evil eye and protect against misfortune.

The association between chili and aphrodisiac power originates in myth but is also a scientific reality. The link between chili and sex has always been present in popular cultures worldwide. The first written mention of chili and sexual pleasure can be found in some Indian erotic texts dating back to the early 15th century. Some refined French erotic manuals also mention the use of this plant to stimulate desire.

The Jesuit José de Acosta, in his *Natural and Moral History of the West Indies* (1598), warns that chili "has deplorable effects, as it is of a very hot, volatile, and penetrating nature, and its repeated use is harmful to the health of young bodies and even more so to their souls, as it incites sensuality." David Livingstone, a Scottish doctor and missionary of the 19th century, recounted that to "increase their power of seduction," African women bathed in water mixed with chili juice.

If we try to understand why chili has been associated with sex, even in times when science had not yet discovered the vasodilatory properties of capsaicin, we can explain it with the "spicy torture" it causes on the tongue. Perhaps humans have learned, through evolution, that a slightly unpleasant situation in a safe context can be exciting. It’s what drives us to ride roller coasters, go skydiving, do bungee jumping, or watch horror movies—and, therefore, to eat spicy chili and enjoy its "pleasant torture." Over millennia, humans have understood that the consequences of this torture included physical and psychological well-being and even enhanced sexual performance, thanks to capsaicin’s vasodilatory properties.

Chili peppers, with their rich history and numerous varieties, continue to be a fascinating element in both cooking and traditional medicine. The idea that they are aphrodisiacs is due to a combination of real physiological effects and cultural perceptions. Regardless of their properties, whatever they may be, our beloved vegetable remains a precious ingredient that adds flavor and spiciness to both cuisine and life in more ways than one might imagine.