Food By Franz

Peppercorn
Talk about being under-appreciated! Just a century or ten ago this substance was demanded in ransoms! Shipped and traded worldwide, highly prized, once regarded as a privilege for the rich….now, we hardly notice the stuff sitting in its own shaker next to the spot light loving salt. Poor Pepper! Although it is the “Worlds Most Popular Spice” – no spotlight here! Thank goodness the comics don’t realize that it is actually the fruit (called drupes) of a flowering vine – it could have been the beginning of pepper prejudice!

With Pepper’s brilliant history – prized in Greek and Roman cooking, recorded in Marco Polo’s journals – how many other spices have those claims? From having your own guild established (London 1179) how does one become so common, that it hardly rates a sneeze now and again….no pun intended – BTW, did you know that its the piperine substance in pepper that makes one “achoo”…but I digress.

All three peppercorns – black, green and white all come from the same plant, but have different effects on the palate. Per the tasting experts – black peppercorns are the hottest and most intense pepper flavor of the three Green peppercorns have a “fresher” flavor and less pungent than either black or white. White peppercorns are milder than black and have a bit of a “musty” taste. Each has wonderful uses – Culinarily it is a spice we cannot do without – amazingly versatile, it has so many uses in cooking ie:
Poaching or cooking liquid for any meat
Marinades, dry rubs, seasoning mixes
Vinaigrette’s, salad dressings, sauces
egg dishes, potato and tomato dishes,
Soups/Stews/Olios – any meat, bean or vegetable combo
white pepper in most sauce that you do not prefer black specs
Pepper can be used in almost any dish that is not sweet – although there is one exception there…the German cookie “pfeffernusse”.

Pepper Parentage: A flowering vine (Piper nigrum) that produces clusters of drupes (or berries) – that is where our humble spice, Pepper comes from. Originally cultivated on the African coast, India and Indo coastal regions – it is now grown in India to Malaysia and exported worldwide. Piper nigrum can be harvested multiple times during the year – it just depends on when the berries are harvested as to the color. The green are picked as immature, the black – just before ripe and dried. White pepper comes from the fully ripe berries and are hulled to reveal a gray/white kernel.

And pink peppercorns – Forggettaboutit! They are even real peppercorns – they are from another plant entirely (S. Terebinthifolius) which is a brazillian pepper! Pink peppercorns are commonly added to peppercorn mixes commercially.