生活在湘、鄂、川、黔四省边区崇山峻岭中的土家族,与辣椒有着不解之缘。辣椒原产自南美州,明朝时从荷兰传到我国,大约稍后即传入土家地区,成为土家人餐桌上的一道佳肴,并深入土家风俗礼仪之中,从而形成土家族独特的辣椒文化。“湖北人不怕辣,湖南人辣不怕,四川人怕不辣。”这一说法在地域上几乎包括了整个土家族地区即湘、鄂、川、黔边区。土家人有“无辣无味”、“无菜不辣”、“辣椒当盐”之说。在土家族地区,辣椒已成为家家户户必备之物,无论男女老少都十分喜爱吃辣椒,而且餐餐不离。 Living in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou four provinces in the mountains of the Tujia, and pepper have a bond. Originally from South America, the peppers came from the Netherlands to China during the Ming Dynasty and came into the Tujia region later. They became a delicacy on the table of Tujia people and went deep into Tujia customs and ceremonies, thus forming Tujia’s unique pepper culture . “People in Hubei Province are not afraid of spicy people and people in Hunan Province are not afraid of it. People in Sichuan Province are afraid of being spicy.” This statement covers almost all the Tujia and Zhujiang areas in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou. Tujia people have “no spicy tasteless”, “no food is not spicy,” “pepper as salt,” said. In the Tujia region, peppers have become an indispensable item for every household, and both men, women, children and children love to eat peppers, and the meals are not separated.