In 2001 they received a potted chilli plant which they replanted in their garden.

Soon they had many chilli plants and so many hot peppers that they didn't know what to do with them.

Not wanting to waste the chillies, they searched the Internet for tips on how to process and market them.

Soon a small home business, EMP Delicacies, was born.

Today they produce a range of chilli products - working out of their kitchen - from different varieties of chillies grown in their garden.

The chillies are picked and then each one is individually inspected before being washed and processed.

Chillies easily get mouldy, even when they are still on the plant.

Quality is very important and strict control is necessary.

The chillies are then pickled, dried or cooked into a sauce.

Chillies can be frozen and kept until the winter so that there is always a steady supply for production.

The Pohls mix dried chillies with various herbs to produce nine spices.

They also cook and bottle Sweet Thai, Tangy Lemon and Traditional Mexican chilli sauces.

In addition, they produce chilli, prickly-pear and fig-leaf schnapps.

Michael and Elke say they developed most of their recipes by trial and error - using their friends as guinea pigs.

Chillies have been consumed by the indigenous people of Central and South America for thousands of years.

The Aztecs gave the plant its name.

The explorer Christopher Columbus introduced chillies to Europe, from where the Dutch spread them along their spice routes to India and Africa.

Chilli plants are members of the Capsicum genus.

The flesh of the chilli is not necessarily hot and sometimes tastes like their milder relatives, the sweet peppers.

The heat comes from the capsaicin, an alkaloid that is mainly stored in the membranes inside the flesh and in the seed.

The hotness of a chilli is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with the African bird's eye chilli measuring 10 and the red pepper 1.

Chillies are rich in Vitamin C and A as well as calcium.

They stimulate the brain to release endorphins into the bloodstream, which give a sense of wellbeing.

They also boost the metabolism and relieve heartburn, indigestion and flatulence.

Capsaicin oil is medically used to treat burns, arthritis, rheumatism, skin cancer and stomach ulcers.

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