本文探討台灣地區住民食用椒的歷史變遷，瞭解飲食製備時，辣椒及其加工品應用在菜餚中的角色變化，以及辣椒傳入後，其品種與栽作生產的發展狀況。解析台灣食用辣椒的外在環境影響因素，發現飲食文化的發展，確實深受社會政治、經濟變遷與食材生產的影響，而食材的培育景況，亦隨著飲食文化的流行趨勢而改變。
Hot pepper is not China-originated. It was brought to China at the end of Ming Dynasty. Hot pepper was not economically cultivated in Taiwan before Ming Dynasty, but only as ornamental which was different from the situation now. The main purpose of this article focuses on the changes of Taiwan residents’ dietary habit of hot peppers, and the development of hot peppers’ cultivars and yield. From the research result, we can see that the development of dietary habit is a complex process interwoven with sociopolitical factors, economic changes and production of food materials. However, the cultivation of food material is also affected by the trend of dietary habit.
