Brightly coloured and sweet flavoured, peppers (also known as bell peppers or capsicums) are a versatile vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked and are used in many different cuisines including Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Spanish, Italian and French. A choice of different colours are available - all peppers are originally green, and as they ripen and sweeten they turn red, orange or yellow. Peppers are sometimes peeled before use as this can help to enhance their sweet flavour. Orange, red and yellow varieties have a sweeter flavour than green peppers.