Chili con carne the word "chile" from the Nahuatl "chīlli" refers to a "chili pepper", and "carne" is Spanish for "meat". A recipe dating back to the 1850s describes dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers and salt, which were pounded together, formed into bricks and left to dry, which could then be boiled in pots on the trail. Chili originated from what is now northern Mexico and southern Texas. Unlike some other Texas foods, such as barbecued brisket, which is associated with white men, chili largely originated with working-class Tejana and Mexican women. The chili queens of San Antonio, Texas were particularly famous
Chili pepper pain receptor in mammals. Chili peppers are eaten by birds living in the chili peppers' natural range, possibly contributing to seed dispersal and evolution of the protective capsaicin in chili peppers. While red chilies contain large amounts of vitamin C (table), other species contain significant amounts of provitamin A beta-carotene. In addition, peppers are a rich source of vitamin B (see table). The three primary spellings are "chili", "chile" and "chilli", all of which are recognized by dictionaries. The name of the plant is almost certainly unrelated to that of Chile, the country, which has an uncertain etymology perhaps relating