Welcome to the second edition of Tales from the Larder. The first one was of course all about salt. Let me introduce you to its culinary fiery cousin, the peppercorn.
Pepper, obtained from the vine "Piper Nigrum" is the most widely traded spice in the world, and has been so for more than 5,000 years (though it has been used as a spice in India since prehistoric time). It represents roughly more than 25% of the world trade in spices and it is produced in only a handful of countries (within 15 degrees of the equator).
Let's get hotted up!
Both black and white pepper (a black peppercorn is picked when still green and dried in the sun until it turns black, a white peppercorn ripens fully on the vine before it is picked) have been used in the East for the treatment of stomach aches, digestive problems and fever for donkey years. The Chinese used pepper to treat malaria, cholera and dysentery among other maladies. When eaten in a small quantity, pepper induces perspiration which eventually cools the body, thus acting as a febrifuge (fancy word for reducing fever!) According to my pepper book, the monks of India were advised to swallow 7 to 9 grains of pepper a day to give them an endurance boost on their long treks.
Being a valuable commodity, it was often used as payment. Attila the Hun reputedly demanded 3,000 pounds in weight of pepper in 408AD as part of a ransom for the city of Rome. In the Middle Ages, there was a French saying, 'As dear as pepper'. In England, rent could be played in pounds of pepper. The Portuguese founded a trade route to India and the Spice Islands around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 (Vasco da Gama's discovery). The Portuguese dominated the pepper trade until the 18th century when other countries cut in on the action.
Pepper has a wonderfully sharp, hot and biting taste. Not only it's one of the oldest spices known to us, it was also used to pay taxes in the ancient world. India holds a supreme position in the production of pepper. Two of its celebrated varieties are Malabar Garbled and Tellichery Extra bold.
The word pepper is derived from the Sanskrit name pippali or pippalii, which is only one of the many names of pepper in Sanskrit language and that was transferred via Greek péperi and Latin piper. The most important producer for pepper is India that accounts for about 50% of the whole production volume
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Black pepper is a native to Malabar, a region on the Western Coast of South India (the coast below Goa for those who have visited India). This aromatic spice with an exotic flavor and a pungent odor is also cultivated in the wilds of Burma. Somehow, two thousand years ago pepper reached Southeast Asia and has been grown since in the lands of Malaysia and Indonesia. In the last few decades of the 20th century, pepper production increased as new plantations were founded in Thailand, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka.
In India pepper is a known spice since ages. Even before the time of Alexander's conquest of India, Indians knew the flavor of pepper. This spice was prevalent in the biblical times as well. Later Arab traders established a pepper monopoly and transferred the spice via the spice route through the Arab peninsular and Egypt to European customers. Pepper was much used by the Romans and in the Early Middle Ages became a status symbol of fine cookery.
Which pepper mill should I use, you asked? Well, there are countless on the market. My favorite is the Peugeot, simple, classy and very effective. Pic below.
But really, any pepper mill will do the job as long as it's decent.
Donnamarie, that intrepid Kossack, once wrote an hilarious account of her search for the perfect pepper mill. Reproduced here with her blessings:
Confessions of a Pepper Mill Slut
I confess to have had many love/hate affairs in my quest to find the perfect pepper grinder. One that had an infinitely adjustable grind, felt good in my hand, held a good amount of peppercorns, was easy to fill and was attractive. I’ve flirted with some beauties. Stainless steel and brushed nickel were near works of countertop art. A battery powered one that was pretty nifty in that it took only one hand to operate but only lasted about a year. Wooden ones that could never really be cleaned properly in my eye. And ALL of them were a pain in the ass to fill.
Having spent a fair amount of money over the years I finally posted my question to the eGullet forums. I received many, many responses. The ones that garnered the most recommendations were a stainless steel one from Peugeot at over $100 (yea like THAT was going to happen) and one I’d never heard of before from a company called Unicorn. Well the price was right, about $30 and I ordered it. It’s the Unicorn Magnum. I fell in love and my days as a Pepper Mill Slut were over.
As far as my requirements, it fails on only one.
- Infinitely Adjustable Grind – I can grind pepper coarse enough for a steak au poivre or fine enough to be nearly invisible specks of peppery goodness.
- Felt good in my hand – I have small hands and a 6 inch grinder works for me. Someone with larger hands might like the Magnum Plus.
- Held a good amount of pepper – Holds plenty.
- Was easy to fill – genius here. A little window on the side opens and you pour in your pepper without losing any.
- Was attractive – Well, no. It’s black. And plastic.
I’ve used this little marvel every day and it has lived up to it’s touted reputation. Hey, looks aren’t everything!
Now I'm going to give you a knockout recipe for peppery wine, a trick I learned during my visit to Algeria eons ago. The beauty of this recipe is that you do not need to purchase expensive red wine bottles. In fact if you have a suspect couple of bottles that you have shelved here's the chance to use them (yes, this recipe needs at least two bottles, four is best (with six plus you have the makings of a wild party).
For (each) bottle of red you will need 50 grams (1.76369 oz) of whole black peppercorns, 120 ml (roughly 4 US fluid ounces) of palm syrup (though you could, at a pinch, substitute with 100 grams of ordinary brown sugar), 120 ml of Brandy (doesn't have to be an expensive kind, any Brandy will do) a whole lemon cut into thick slices and two cloves. I often grate a bit of nutmeg into it as well (optional). You will also need a cooking pot since this is cooked wine. Combine all the above ingredients together and put on stove. The trick here is NOT to boil this concoction but simmer it gently for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let it rest overnight in a cool area then sieve the whole thing, and refrigerate for a few hours. Served cold, this is a distant cousin of the Spanish sangria, it will loosen tongues at will with its peppery heat! If you want to be fancy you can decorate each glass with a thin slice of orange and a mint leaf. Olé!
For those who'd like to do nifty conversionds from grams to ounces, ml to fluid ounces - and vice versa, Metric conversions link here.
Another astute Kossack asked me if I was going to write about Szechuan pepper (also spelled Sìchuān and Szechwan although it is not actually pepper but a berry). Naturally. One can not write about pepper without mentioning the fiery Szechuan pepper and its less pungent cousin, the Thai pepper. Below is a pic of a bowl of Szechuan pepper husks about to be crushed into powder.
In appearance and texture Szechuan pepper looks like a true peppercorn but it does not grown on a vine, and the flavor is very special. Its berries are warm and pepperlike and the leaves have a citrus fragrance.
It is totally unlike traditional black and white pepper as only the husks are used. The fragrant pods are somewhat like flowers, with a rich combination of ginger and citrus taste that numbs your tongue. I love it when it does that. And now you need a recipe for a Sichuan pepper sauce that can accompany a meat, fish or vegetable dish.
If you're yearning for a good piece of beef, this is the ticket (it also works with chicken breast, pork chop and lamb cutlets as well). Nowadays I hardly touch beef but should a grass-fed steak find its way to my kitchen then it will be prepared as thus: for two persons you will need a thickish piece of beef rib, a true côte de boeuf, a large knob of butter, 100 grams of peeled echalottes, cut into thin strips, a glass of good red wine, quarter of a pint of double cream (yes, this is a really rich sauce), a drop of olive oil and roughly 50 grams of crushed Sichuan pepper. First coat your beef rib with a little melted butter and dip it into the crushed pepper. Add a touch of sea salt and set aside for ten minutes (while you check your potato dish and ready a green vegetable like peas or beans, asparagus or spinach).
In a skillet, over a hot flame, melt the remaining butter, add a little olive oil so that the butter doesn't turn brown too quickly, and place your piece of beef in the middle. Cook both sides as you desire (rare for me) and set aside on a warming plate while you add the chopped echalottes and using a wooden spoon, loosen the pepper that is stuck onto the pan. Once the echalottes are tuning slightly brown, deglaze the pan with the red wine. Cook the red wine for a minute. Add the double cream and stir for a few seconds till amalgamated. Reduce to a creamy, thick sauce, then add the beef rib for a few seconds, both sides and serve at once with the vegetables of your choice. A good Burgundy or a regional Pinot Noir should do justice to this (plenty of them in the US alone).
Szechwan pepper is native to the Szechwan province of China. Though they bear some resemblance to black peppercorns, they are not actually of the pepper family, but the dried berry of a tree of the rue family. Several Zanthoxylum species grow throughout the temperate belt of China, Japan, the Himalayas and North America. They all have similarities, being aromatic and used in herbal remedies. Only the pipertium variety of the East is useful for cooking. In Japan the wood of the prickly ash is used to make mortars and pestles which impart some flavour to the substances being ground. The Japanese also use the wood for tobacco pipes. Szechwan pepper is still fairly uncommon in the West, so it may be helpful when looking for it to be familiar with some of the other common names and spellings for it: Sichuan pepper, Szechwan pepper and fagara to name a few — see below for others.
If you want to grow your own pepper tree, try the Bonsai method. Flowering indoor Bonsai tree below, thrives in conservatories or glass houses. Google it and you will find one, somewhere.
Non-pungent "Thai Pepper"
"Thai pepper" can also refer to black pepper, as it is a literal translation of the Thai word for it, พริกไทย phrik thai. This refers to the peppercorns used in many Thai dishes, as well as ground black or white pepper and derives from the distinction between peppercorns being traditionally Thai versus chili peppers (which only arrived in Thailand in the sixteenth century). A quick, simple dish using this pepper would be what I call Thai peppered shrimps. For two persons procure yourself with one pound of fresh shrimps, peeled with the tail on, 4 cloves of garlic, crushed, two tablespoons of sunflower oil for frying, one red onion, cut into strips, a small piece of fresh ginger root, finely chopped, a few baby spinach leaves, salt and 2 teaspoons of the Thai pepper, crushed.
Place your frying pan over a high flame (or high temp), pour the oil, add the onion, cook for ten seconds, add the shrimps, the crushed pepper, salt to taste, the ginger and lastly the garlic. This should not take any more than five minutes, stirring like crazy. Some would add a little Nam Plah (fish sauce) but I prefer to keep it simple. When you're about to finish, just add the spinach leaves and toss them for a few seconds before serving. Thai beer goes well with this dish!
Next edition will be about vinegars and how to make it. Subscribe at will 'cause I don't know if I can write this series on a weekly basis or bi-monthly. Expect a Cassoulet diary around Christmas time as mistress Floja Roja has demanded implored me to do one. Since it is one of my very favorite dish, it will be a pleasure. I like them beans!
One last thing: my partner and I are fond of the occasional shot of Absolut or Chopin vodka when we can afford it. We found that when we add a tiny sprinkle of crushed pepper to it, it goes down really well and adds to the taste.
I was going to write the recipe for a pepper ice-cream I used to make in Australia but time is running out, I have to get into my ghoulish Sarah Palin outfit and scare a few unsuspecting punters.