As to the peppers, your husband is, well, wrong – even if he likes to be blunt about it. Chili or chilie is a perfectly good word in modern day Spanish – it is adopted from the Náhuatl language where it refers to the group of peppers that are found in the area of that culture – while meanwhile ají comes from the Taino language of the Carribean – both of them are adopted, neither is traditional to Spanish. Most of the peppers found in Perú, Bolivia, Ecuador and surrounds are of the aji family, while most of the peppers found in the north part of Central America and Mexico belong to the chili family. They’re just different species and varieties of peppers. In other parts of the Spanish speaking world they are called, variously, pimiento, guindilla, morrón, peperonchino and capsicum (the last of which being the traditional Latin).

The common species of chili peppers are:

- Capsicum annuum, which includes many common varieties such as bell peppers, paprika, cayenne, jalapeños, and the chiltepin
- Capsicum frutescens, which includes the tabasco and Thai peppers
- Capsicum chinense, which includes the hottest peppers such as the naga, habanero, Datil and Scotch bonnet
- Capsicum pubescens, which includes the South American rocoto peppers
- Capsicum baccatum, which includes the South American aji peppers