With its funny, elongated shape and the bright, lively colour, the chilly pepper has become an authentic symbol of Calabria. Indeed, the chilly pepper is consumed the most in this region, where the imagination of the producers created more or less traditional products. In reality, the Capsicum frutescens is a shrub coming from tropical regions. Christopher Columbus , brought it to Europe, and he talked about it for the first time in his log, describing the Hispanola island in 1493. The chilly pepper became an important part of the cuisine of Calabria already at the end of the 17th century, as many foreign travellers who visited the region report. The local population, indeed, learned how to exploit its disinfectant properties, and thought it had also an aphrodisiac power. The main function of this pepper is the preservation of food, as we can see from the salami and delicacies from Calabria.

Typical product of the south of Italy, its name, "Caciocavallo" (type of cheese produced with whole cow milk) derives from the seasoning of the provola (round cheese made of bullafo's milk), tied together on an horizontal stick. It is a medium hard cheese, whose flavour changes from sweet to chilly, depending upon the seasoning period. At the beginning, the caciocavallo was a summer product, produced with a very accurate handmade technique, because the cheese had to be preserved as much as possible. The caciocavallo of Sila , with its unique taste, mildly chilly, gains an excellent flavour with the seasoning, thanks to the climate of the majestic mountains of the Sila area, and it has a high nutritional value. It can be eaten seasoned as an appetizer or melted in delicious recipes, and it is the king of the Mediterranean diet. Produced with cow milk after curdling, ageing, spinning and preparation of the cheese, salting, seasoning, the caciocavallo from Sila was certified at a European level in 1993 as a Name of Origin Protected product.