Crispy yellow, fresh green, crunchy red – Ring any BELLS? LOL. The bell peppers A.K.A capsicum we’ve had in our salads, sandwiches and pizzas, may have been different colours, but the one thing they have in common is that they’re all delicious.
And apart from all being bell peppers, many of us may have assumed their deliciousness is the only thing they had in common… and we’d be sadly mistaken. For, as it turns out, the bell pepper is a master of disguise and deceit.
Truth time, people. The green, yellow and red capsicums are no different from each other than a human baby is from a teenager and the teenager from a barely-functional adult. They’re the exact same vegetable picked at different stages of their development!
Yup, green peppers ripen to become bright yellow, and those very yellow ones in turn, age further to turn vibrant red in colour.
One could ask, “Well if the peppers are all the same, why do they smell and taste different from each other, then?” Fair question, with a pretty simple answer.
When the capsicum is green, it contains a chemical (2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine) that has a plant-like aroma. As it matures to yellow, orange and eventually red colours, it produces more of a new compound (E-2-hexenal and E-2-hexanol) that makes it taste and smell significantly sweeter.
So basically, you might think you’re having a salad with different kinds of capsicums, but what you’ll really be munching on, is betrayal. ‘Cause what you thought were Raj and Surinder from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, were actually just Shah Rukh Khan the whole time.
Now you know how Taani ji felt when she found out.
I know. I was shocked too. And now that you’ve found out the bell peppers’ heinous true colours – well, it won’t change that they still do taste bloody delicious but – you can totally at least yell at the veggie for lying to your damn face this whole time… and then proceed to mercilessly devour it.
Vegetables! You can never trust ’em.
H/T: Harrisfarm
Feature source: Authority Nutrition