Pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Chemistry | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]

[ History of Pepper | Pepper Types | Pepper in the Kitchen ]

History of Pepper

Carbonized pepper from archeological excavations in Berenike (5. century)

Dehydratized pepper from archeological excavations in Berenike (5. century)

Plant with ripening pepper berries

Black pepper, grown in Southern India since more than two thousand years, has always been much valued all over the world. After Alexander the Great had warred upon Central Asia, and indeed even reached India (4.th century BC), new trading routes were established that brought, for the very first time, pepper into the West. Within short time, pepper’s growing popularity made it a most important item of commerce. Soon, Arabic traders established a pepper monopoly and transferred the spice via the spice route through the Arab peninsular and Egypt to their European customers, whom they denied any knowledge about the actual origin of pepper.

In spite of its astronomical price, pepper has been much used by the Romans (see Silphion on Roman cuisine) and became, in the Early Middle Ages, a status symbol of fine cookery. At this time, the Italian town of Venezia had monopolized trade with the Arabs to the same extent as the Arabs theirs with the Indian producers. Due to this double monopoly, comparatively few cooks in Europe could afford pepper at all; but when Europe’s economical situation stabilized in the 15.th century, increasing demand for pepper led to the Age of Exploration. European sailors then tried to reach India and to obtain the spice directly from the producers, bypassing both the Arab and the Venetian monopolists.

At the end of the 15.th century, Portuguese seafarers changed the medieval view of the world: In 1487, Bartholomeu Diaz surrounded the Cape of Good Hope, thereby proving that Africa was not an impregnable obstacle on the Way to the East; only eleven years later, his countryman Vasco da Gama reached India, founded several Portuguese outposts and established permanent trade relations to local rulers. From this moment on, Lisboa, not Venezia, was the spice metropolis of Europe; of course, prices were not reduced but the profit just shifted to another country (100 years later, profits shifted again, this time to Amsterdam). Portugal’s colonies in South and Southeast Asia persisted until the second half of the 20.th century, even after the spice business had been lost to England and the Netherlands.

Pepper with unripe fruits pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de

In the meantime, the Spaniards also tried their luck in seafaring: Cristoforo Colombo, an Italian who found support for his unconven­tional plans at the Spanish court, discovered what he had not searched for in 1492 and again eleven years later Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the American continent at the Isthmus of Panamá, thereby reaching the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, it was also a Spanish enterprise to explore this new ocean and thereby to circumvent the earth: Fernão de Magalhães, Portuguese by birth, is usually given credit for this task, although he himself did not survive the journey, but was slain in a conflict with natives of the Philippines. After all, Spanish success was poor in Asia (the Philippines remained the only Spanish colony in the East), and although the larger part of America quickly fell under Spanish dominion, Spain could never assume a significant rôle in the spice trade, allspice and vanilla being the only profitable spices from the New World.

Pepper production was long confined to a small region in India (Malabar, in the South of India’s West coast). Because of the expensive transport, but even more because of the effective monopoly first of Arabs and Venetians, then of the Portuguese and at last of the British, price remained rather high, and consumers in Europe were sometimes forced to use pepper substitutes. Of these, the Mediterranean chaste tree berries and the two African spices grains of paradise and negro pepper have lost all importance and are rarely traded at all in our days; similarly, the Mediterranean myrtle berries did not meet much approval. In Central Europe, the native water pepper has occasionally been used to substitute pepper in times of economic shortage, but it is not grown and produced any longer. As a side note on history, German cooks resorted to savory during the years of World War II, when import of tropical spices faded.

Flowering pepper

In centuries past, long pepper, a close relative of black pepper from India, and cubeb pepper from Jawa, have been common in European cooking; today, they have fallen into oblivion in Western countries, but are still much in use in India and Northern Africa, respectively. Sichuan pepper from China and Japan and pink pepper from South America, although still not too common, have become more popular in the last decades in Western cookery; maybe, the same will happen to Tasmanian pepper.

Another pungent spice, chiles from Central and South America, was first introduced as a pepper substitute in European cuisine, but has now gained much popularity all over the world, because of its stronger pungency and easy growing. Today, chiles are the prototypical hot spice, and their production, usage and trade exceed those of real pepper. See also negro pepper for a comparison between several hot and pungent spices.

---

[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Chemistry | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]

[ History of Pepper | Pepper Types | Pepper in the Kitchen ]

Types of Peppercorns: Black, White, Green, Red

Pickled red and green pepper corns

White, black, green and red dried peppercorns (300 dpi scan)

Pepper is uni­que in the spice universe as the pepper fruits are marketed in four different versions: They can be processed to give black, white, green and red peppercorns. By choosing time of harvest and post­processing method carefully, all four types could, in principle, be produced from the same pepper plant.

Black pepper is the fruits of pepper harvested unripe but not far from ripeness, and dried at moder­ately elevated tempera­ture. A typical scheme is plucking the whole pepper spike in the moment when the very first berry starts turning red and storing the berries over night at room temperature; in some places, the berries are dipped into boiling water to provide a quick surface disinfection. Under these circumstances, fermentation takes place, and the formerly green pepper fruits turn black, similar to the fermentation of tea leaves. With the next day, the drying procedure starts, still often in direct sunlight without the help of electric dehydrators. Black pepper is produced in all pepper producing countries.

The later pepper is picked, the better its flavour will become; pungency, however, does not increase much in the last days of ripening. Waiting too long, however, is not an option, because ripe pepper fruits cannot be let fermented in the usual way, as their sugar content would allow for rotting. The latest moment to produce black pepper is when the fruits turn yellow–orange; pepper made from these almost ripe berries has a particularly good flavour. Such black pepper is produced only in India, and it is traded as Tellicherry pepper. Its corns are larger than typical black pepper corns, and their colour is not so much black than a dark and warm brown. They are slightly more expensive to compensate for the increased risk of loss to hungry birds or unfavourable weather.

Peppercorns of varying ripeness are drying to yield black pepper

Fully ripened pepper fruits are used to make white pepper. For that purpose, the outer hull (exocarp, mesocarp) must be removed. Note that the mesocarp not only contains the sugar, but also a part of the volatile aroma compounds; the pungency is located in the endocarp only. The usual way of processing is soaking the berries for about one week, preferably in slow-running water. After that time, the mesocarp disintegrates and can be separated mechanically from the kernel (endocarp). The remainder, mainly the seed grain, is then dried and sold as white pepper. White pepper retains the full pungency of black pepper, but it has an altered flavour due to partial loss of aroma compounds. White pepper is significantly more expensive than black pepper, on one hand in compensation of the high risk to lose an entire harvest to changing weather, and on the other hand for the extra work involved.

Pepper plant growing on a support tree © Josh Weber

In Madagascar, another way of processing pepper was developed: Green pepper is early-harvested pepper, far from ripening, that is processed in a way to exclude fermen­tation. This is achieved by pickling the freshly harvested pepper corns in salt or vinegar, or by quick drying at elevated temperature or in a vacuum (lyophilization). Because of its unripeness, green pepper has only small pungency and a fresh, herbal, green flavour.

The same kind of pickling procedure can also be applied to ripe pepper fruits; in that case, their colour is retained, and one arrives at red pepper. This kind of pepper (red peppercorn) is a rather rare item; it is considerably more pungent and aromatic than green pepper, and it combines the spicy, mature flavour of black pepper with the fresh notes of green pepper. The natural sweetness of fresh red peppercorns is lost in the process of pickling, though.

Dried red peppercorns are even harder to find, and are to my knowledge, only produced by one single company in Kerala (Southern India). With respect to pungency and fragrance, they are similar to good black pepper, but they also feature a sugary sweet taste, which makes them unique in the pepper world. To produce them, the ripe peppercorns have to be harvested at the right time, and the drying procedure must be fast and suppress fermentation to preserve the colour. Another goal is to to prevent the separation of the outer hull from the kernel (which would give white pepper plus brown rubbish). Red pepper must not be confused with pink pepper, which stems from an entirely different plant and has little peppery quality; it is available both dried and (more rarely) pickled.

It is quite remarkable that, although four different colours of peppers are in existence, black pepper still dominates in production and consume. Red pepper has no importance whatsoever; it is mainly an exotic curiosity. Green pepper is used mostly in Western cooking, where it often goes into mustard (white mustard) or bottled condiments. It is the pepper to use for pepper steak and several sauces to accompany broiled or fried meats. Pickled green peppercorns are often used as a spicy garnish to cold foods. Dried green peppercorns are very aromatic, but at the same time have less pungency; this makes them useful for delicate dishes for which the heavy pungency of black pepper would be disastrous. For my feeling, they are sadly underrated among European cooks.

Pepper plantation pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de

Unripe Pepper fruits and leaf www.botany.hawaii.edu   © Gerald Carr

Fresh green pepper, which is not always easy to come by in Western countries, enjoys increasing popularity in pepper producing countries, particularly in Thailand. It is very good in Thai stir fries, and can be used in Thai curry pastes (see coconut). Pickled green peppercorns are too acidic to be used as substitute, but soaked dried green peppercorns can be used if the fresh are unavailable.

Also white pepper is mainly used in Western cooking. It is often suggested for white (cream-based) sauces where black pepper could spoil the colour; sauce Béchamel is a typical example (see nutmeg). It is also used whenever pungency takes predominance over pepper flavour; for example, ground white pepper is well suited to adjust a taste in the last moment, as it can give certain pungency without marked changes in aroma and fragrance; black pepper may be unsuited because of its intensive fragrance which reduces only after a prolonged cooking time.

An example of a traditional European dish that uses white pepper is gefilte fish [געפֿילטע פֿיש] stuffed fish, which is a specialty of the now almost extinct Yiddish cooking (Germany, Poland and Ukraine). The original recipe was complicated and reserved for festive occasions: Deboned fish meat (commonly carp), boiled onions and hard boiled eggs were ground to a smooth paste and seasoned with white pepper. The fish farce was then carefully stuffed back into the fish skins, and the re-filled fish boiled cautiosly in a flavourful broth made from fish bones, carrots and onion, often augmented with some herbs (parsley, celery). In our days, the recipe is usually simplified, and the fish farce is just shaped into balls and cooked in the broth. Gefilte fish is usually served cold, together with the gelatinized broth and sometimes a pungent paste made from red beets and horseradish.

Due to the price drops in the pepper trade of the late 20.th century, pepper has become available in several Far Eastern kitchens. While black pepper dominates the (still small) pepper market in South East Asia, the East Asian countries often have a preference for white pepper. Its only mildly aromatic pungency has become popular in Japan, where white pepper is often used as an alternative to the local variety of Sichuan pepper in marinades for meats. Chinese cooking does not use pepper much (except black peppercorns to flavour stocks), yet there is a handfull of recipes with a strong pepper flavour. An example of the latter type is hot and sour soup (suanla tang [酸辣湯]) (see sesame). For these pepper-accented dishes, white pepper is used if available.

---

[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Chemistry | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]

[ History of Pepper | Pepper Types | Pepper in the Kitchen ]

Culinary Usage of Black Pepper

Pepper flower perso.wanadoo.fr

Black pepper is by far the most used type of pepper­corns. It is widely employed in almost all cuisines of the world. Since pepper cultivation has much increased lately and new plantations spread to remote locations, black pepper is continually introduced into cooking styles that did not use much pepper before, mainly for reasons of expense. For example, Thai cooking has not only developed a likening for fresh unripe pepper berries, but also uses black pepper to a larger extent that before when it was an expensive import commodity. Black pepper is particularly popular for comparatively mild stews as preferred in the cuisine of the Royal Thai Court.

Also the Vietnamese use now much more black pepper than a few decades ago, since Vietnamese pepper production is now well-established. It is added to long-simmered soups (see Vietnamese cinnamon for North Vietnamese and Vietnamese coriander for South Vietnamese soups) and appears quite often as a table condiment. In Cambodia, black pepper is part of the ubiquitous table condiment tik marij, a mixture of lime juice, salt and freshly ground pepper. Ironically, black pepper is little used in the cuisines of Malaysia and Indonesia, although these are the oldest production areas outside of India.

Hard to believe: This pepper vine thrives in the Mahabharat mountains of Nepal!

In India, black pepper is widely used but plays no special rôle; it is just one more member of the large spice pan­theon, often used as a minor com­ponent of garam masala [गरम मसाला, گرم مسالحہ]; this also applies to the pepper pro­ducing areas of South India, and to the South Indian spice blend sambar podi [சாம்பார் பொடி] (see cumin and coriander, respectively). The Anglo–Indian curry powder may also contain ground pepper among its many ingredients (see curry leaves).

Strong pepper accents are, however, found in the regional cooking of the Raja­sthan state. There, generous amounts of black pepper­corns lend a special taste to long-simmered stews (korma [कोरमा]), particularily in the non-vegetarian Muslim cuisine. Rajasthani garam masala may be quite high in black pepper, which (together with the preference for black cardamom over green cardamom) gives is a somewhat unique character. Ground black pepper is also very often used as a spice for black tea, alone or in combination with other spices. This Rajasthani preference is somewhat unique, as spice tea (masala chai [मसाला चाय]) tends to be dominated by cardamom or ginger in the rest of India, pepper being at best a minor component of the spice mix employed; in winter, pepper use might increase as it is considered warming the body.

Rather than following the common Indian practice, Sri Lankan cooking quite often makes use of black pepper as a main spice, creating an interesting contrast to other foods which owe their heat to chiles. For examples, some vegetable curries are spiced with black pepper and no chile, and the same is true of the colonial-influenced vegetable-stuffed pastry generally known as rolls. Another example is the so-called egg hopper (bittara appa [බිත්තර ආප්ප]), a dome-shaped bread whose dough contains coconut milk; before cooking, it is topped with a raw egg and sprinkeld with coarse black pepper.

Black pepper can be used for nearly every kind of dish — some even like it for sweets! The combination of ripe strawberries and green pepper is almost a classic in European cooking (and a spicy strawberry risotto tastes as excellent as it sounds weird), but a pinch of pepper can well be used for other mild fruits, and results in a particularly exotic, special touch. Fruits salads are a good field to play with pepper; you need not go as far as the Indonesians, who prepare a chile-hot fruit salad called rujak (see mango). High-quality dark chocolate enhanced with a dash of black pepper has recently appeared on the European market, and I find this a very attractive combination. Peppered sweetmeats were pretty common in ancient Greece and Rome, at least for those who could afford (see also poppy); a few such recipes are still found in current European cuisines, e. g., Italian panforte or some variants of German Lebkuchen.

Pepper plants, sterile perso.wanadoo.fr

Pepper sprinkler for power users – seen in Georgia

Pepper ap­pears in several well-known or not-so-well-known spice mixtures. In West Asia, it is used cautiously, as in some Turkish and Syrian spice blends. Georgian khmeli-suneli (see blue fenugreek) is mostly a mix of dried herbs, but also contais a few percent of pepper. On the other side, Georgians use pepper in masses as a table condiment, for example with the national favourite khinkali (khink’ali [ქინკალი]), a type of stuffed and steamed pasta that is often coated in nose-endangering amounts of ground pepper before eating.

The Arabs had monopolized pepper trade for millennia; it is not surprising, thus, that pepper is popular in Arab cooking and figures prominently in several Arabic spice mixtures. From the West of the Arab peninsular, from Yemen, comes zhoug, a fiery relish and condiment (see coriander); further East, at the coast of the Gulf, cooks use baharat (see paprika) to season rice, mutton and vegetables. Spice mixtures in Arabic tradition are found in Morocco (ras el hanout, see cubeb pepper), Tunisia (gâlat dagga, see grains of paradise) and Ethiopia (berbere, see long pepper). Mixtures called baharat are also common in the Eastern Mediterranean, although they rather resemble a reduced version of ras el hanout; in Palestine, a mixture simply called al-bahar [البهار] the spice contains little besides black pepper and allspice.

Black pepper has found friends in the New World, and subsequently entered traditional cooking styles in Latin America; see paprika for its usage in Mexican mole sauces. In the USA, pepper (particularly white pepper) is common in the Creole cuisine of New Orleans (see sassafras about New Orlean cooking styles in general and thyme about blackening).

Pepper is still popular in Europe and is a main constituent of the French creation quatre épices (see nutmeg). Alone or in combination with other spices, pepper is much loved all over the world for spicy meat stews, steaks, sauces and all kind of vegetable dishes. Pepper may be cooked for quite a long time without losing its flavour. Sauce béarnaise (see tarragon), a celebrated French invention, owes part of its spicy flavour to black peppercorns simmered in vinegar.

Pepper pungency goes well with sour flavours (see mango on acidity). In Europe and the USA, mixtures of coarsely ground black pepper with desiccated lemon juice are popular to flavour poultry and fish. This so-called lemon pepper must not be confused with exotic Indonesian lemon pepper, a variety of Sichuan pepper.

Personally, I generally prefer whole spices over pre-ground products in most cases — but few other spices (e. g., cardamom and some herbs) deteriorate that quickly as ground pepper. Both black and green pepper lose their aroma fully, and white pepper even acquires a moldy, earthy taste that can easily spoil a meal. Therefore, I strongly recommend a pepper mill to have always fresh and aromatic pepper at hand.