Capsicum

I'll be totally honest and confess to taking inspiration for this shot from my friend David Pritchard (he of the extremely talented photographer ilk with whom I went into the Peaks last weekend) who took a similar shot of the same subject a few days back. At the time, I was struck by the vibrant colours and the texture so I decided to see what I could recreate.

I started taking pictures of the pepper uncut and was doing OK but felt a mild sense of frustration that something was missing from the shot, so out came the knife and on went the excavation and I hope the dissection I've added to my journal today shows how beautiful and intricate a supermarket bought red pepper can be!

It's an interesting fruit in actual fact .....

The history of sweet, or bell peppers (capsicums to anyone of a more Australian persuasion), is similar to that of hot peppers. They originated in Latin America, were one of the first plants to be cultivated in the region and were carried throughout the world by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers. Peppers are members of the nightshade family that include eggplant/aubergine, tomatoes, the potato and the tamarillo. The main producers of sweet peppers today are China, Turkey, Nigeria, Spain, Mexico and Romania.

The proportion of the different nutritional elements varies greatly from one variety to another. For example, red peppers contain much more vitamin A and vitamin C - two very powerful anti-oxidants - than green peppers, and are a good source of potassium, vitamin B6 and folic acid.

Sweet peppers also have a number of medicinal properties. They are thought to be a good digestive aid, diuretic, stimulant and antiseptic amongst other positive benefits and red peppers are one of the few foods that contain lycopene, a carotenoid whose consumption has been inversely correlated with prostate cancer and cancers of the cervix, bladder and pancreas. Bell peppers also appear to have a protective effect against cataracts, possibly due to their vitamin C and beta-carotene content.

So there you go folks ... best hot foot it down to the grocers and stock up! These little babies seem to contain the elixir of life!