Belarus

Belarus’s cool continental climate restricts hot-pepper production mostly to home gardens, allotments, and greenhouses, with commercial acreage focused on sweet bell peppers and mild paprikas.

Gardeners commonly grow generic cayenne, jalapeño-type, and small hot hybrids sourced from Russian and European seed catalogs rather than distinct Belarusian landraces. Industry use of hot peppers is limited; processing plants emphasize pickled sweet peppers, relishes, and ketchups with mild chili content.

In traditional cuisine, heat historically came more from mustard, horseradish, and black pepper than from chiles, but this is slowly changing. Home cooks increasingly use fresh or dried hot peppers in borscht variations, stews, and meat marinades, and pickle hot and sweet peppers together in vinegar brines. The growing influence of Caucasian and Central Asian food has popularized adjika-style chili pastes and spicier shashlik marinades, typically using imported or greenhouse-grown chilies.