辣椒与湘味

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对湖南人来说，吃辣的习俗不仅存在于市井烟火间，更在文化和基因里得到了传承。人们常说吃辣有三重境界：第一重是不怕辣；第二重是辣不怕；第三重是怕不辣，也是吃辣的最高境界。在湖南，几乎家家户户都会腌辣椒、酱辣椒、晒辣椒，日常饮食中也是“无辣不成菜”。在别的地方，人们把辣椒当佐料，而湖南人则把辣椒当菜。

For people from Hunan Province — known by its abbreviationas Xiang，eating spicy food is embedded in their kitchens，in their culture，and， some might say， even in their genes.Local people speak of three levels of eating spicy food.The first is not being afraid of spice.The second is being able to handle it.And the third一perhaps the most Hunan of all—is fearing only that the food isn't spicyenough.InHunan，nearly everyhousehold knows howto make pickled chillies，soypreserved chillies， and sun-dried chilli peppers.In their daily life，there is acommon saying： eNo spice，Nodish."Whileinother parts of China，chilli is used as a seasoning or garnish， in Hunan，chilliesare eatenas dishes.

湖南的辣椒种类繁多，堪称全国之最。（剩余5667字）