How Sichuan Cuisine Became Spicy
The palate of today's Sichuan people is actually quite different from that of Li Bai and Su Shi. Without the chili peppers introduced during the Ming and Qing dynasties, could Sichuan cuisine still be called Sichuan cuisine?
Sichuan cuisine claims to have a historical lineage of over two thousand years. However, it's hard to say how much resemblance today's Sichuan cuisine bears to that of ancient times. One irrefutable piece of evidence is that at most, just four hundred years ago, Sichuan cuisine did not include chili peppers — without chili peppers, how could it be called "Sichuan cuisine"?