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Pepper is a condiment that has been
salt's partner on Western tables for hundreds of years. It adds a flavour of
its own to dishes, as well as enhancing the taste of other ingredients.
The use of peppercorns is so common these days; it’s hard to believe it
was once so valuable that it was used as currency. Sailors on the first ships
to carry them were required to have their pockets sewn closed to prevent them
from squirreling away any of the precious cargo. We may well take it for granted
today, but the vast majority of savoury dishes include peppercorns in some form
and they are ranked as the third most added ingredient to recipes, with water
and salt leading the race.
A spice indigenous to southern India, it stimulates the appetite and
gives food a gentle warmth. There are also many types of peppercorns from
black, white, green to pink. Black, white and green peppercorns are all
products of the same plant but each is harvested and handled differently. Black
peppercorns are actually berries that are picked when they're just turning red.
They are then dried whole before being sold. The finest black peppercorns are
said to be Tellicherry from India because they are larger and the most
flavourful.
White pepper is also derived from the fully ripened berries that are
just about to turn red but after harvest, the clusters are packed in bags and
soaked in water for more than a week. This softens the outer coating so that it
may be removed and then they are spread out to dry in the sun where they become
naturally bleached to white. Sarawak white peppercorns from Malaysia are said
to be the finest due to careful handling and processing. A close second are the
Indonisian Muntok type.
Green peppercorns are harvested when the berry is immature and then
packed in brine. They offer a fresher flavour and less pungency than black or
white pepper. Dried green peppercorns are also available alone or combined in
four-pepper mixtures.
Pink peppercorns are technically not really peppercorns at all - they come
from a different plant - but don’t let that stop you adding a rosy hue and
peppery touch to your supper. They have a delicate pepper flavour; just crush
them in a pestle and mortar to get that peppery aroma going. Use them combined
with white, black or green peppercorns as a seasoning for steak or fish, mixed
into a salad dressing or even added to minced meat as a filling for burgers.
Freshly ground peppercorns have much more flavour than ready-ground
pepper, so buy fresh whole peppercorns and invest in a pepper grinder or a
pestle and mortar. Try grinding
fresh black pepper over a bowl of strawberries and see how it enhances the
flavour of the fruit, releasing a very subtle pepper flavour. Lightly crushed
or cracked peppercorns can be used to spice up creamy sauces or to coat fillet
steaks or chicken breasts. The light crushing releases the fragrant spiciness;
using ground pepper in this way would just release too much heat.
I love the aroma and flavour of Sichuan peppercorns; although it is not actually
a pepper at all, rather the dried red-brown berries of a type of ash tree that
have a lemony, peppery aroma. Sichuan pepper has the characteristic
‘mouth-numbing’ quality typical of many dishes from the Sichuan province of
China. It is also one of the spices used in Chinese five-spice powder.
Buy peppercorns whole and in small amounts and store them in the same
way as other spices. Whole peppercorns keep for longer than ground pepper and
the taste and aroma will always be better.
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