The world’s most popular spice is a tiny berry that grows in grapelike clusters on the pepper plant, a perennial woody climbing vine native to India and Indonesia.  Cultivated for its fruit, it is usually dried and used as a spice or seasoning. Most people don’t appreciate the abundant and inexpensive supply of a spice that was once so valuable and rare it was often used as currency.  So prized was its worth that during the 15th century many of the European sailing expeditions were undertaken with the main purpose of finding alternate trade routes to the Far East.

Historically, several Sanskrit texts show the use of pepper by the peoples of India goes farther back than that of any other spice.  Pepper was used in food preparation as soon as it was introduced in Europe sometime around the sixth or fifth century BC.  Hippocrates was the first European writer to describe it and mentions it as a medicament rather than a culinary ingredient.  Interestingly enough, black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II.  It is believed they were placed there as part of the mummification ritual shortly after his death in 1213 BC.

Within the genus Piper, the fruit known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately 5 millimeters (0.20 inches) in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and like all drupes (remember When a Nut is Not a Nut, published September 29, 2010 in Lake Oconee Breeze – a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell with a seed inside) contains a single seed.  In terms of peppercorns, there are black, white, green, pink and Szechuan.

The most popular peppercorn is black and is produced from the still green unripe drupes of the pepper plant.  The drupes are briefly cooked in hot water to prepare them for drying.  Sun or machine dried, the heat ruptures the cell walls in the pepper causing the area around the seed to shrink and darken into a thin, wrinkled black layer.  Now referred to as black peppercorns this pepper is considered spicier than other peppers.  Two well-known types of black peppercorns come from India’s Malabar Coast:  Malabar pepper and Tellicherry pepper.  Tellicherry is a higher-grade pepper made from the largest, ripest 10 percent of fruits from Malabar plants grown on Mount Tellicherry and is our black peppercorn choice at the pasta shop.  Recently, Chef Brian at Reynolds Plantation Creek Club ordered 10 pounds of black pepper pappardelle and we have had rave reviews from patrons about his pasta special.

Less pungent, the white peppercorn consists of the seed of the pepper plant alone.  Allowed to ripen, then stripped of the darker colored skin, the berry is then dried.  This process can be done mechanically, chemically, or biologically.  The result is a smaller, smoother-skinned, light-tan berry with a milder flavor.  This peppercorn is often used in light-colored sauces or dishes such as mashed potatoes where dark colored peppercorns would visibly stand out.  The differing flavor is due to the presence of certain compounds in the outer fruit layer of the drupe that are not found in the seed.

Green pepper, like black pepper, is made from the unripe drupes.  The green peppercorn is the soft, under ripe berry that’s usually preserved in brine or dried.  Often not seen in the West, fresh unpreserved green pepper drupes are used particularly in Thai cuisine and decay very quickly if not dried or preserved.  We love to prepare Steak au Poivre with a healthy wallop of crunchy freshly course ground green peppercorns.  Delicious with smashed organic Peruvian potatoes, butter, a little cream and of course freshly ground white peppercorns!

Pink peppercorns are not true peppercorns but actually the dried berries from the Baies rose plant.  Once thought to be unsafe to eat, the pink peppercorn has been approved by the FDA.  These peppercorns are cultivated in Madagascar and imported via France, hence their exorbitant price.  The rose-hued berries are pungent and slightly sweet and we love to add them to any long cut pasta dish dressed with a little butter and chervil.  A lovely side dish to serve along with grilled chicken.

Szechuan peppercorns come from the prickly ash tree native to the Szechuan province of China.  These peppercorns, like pink peppercorns, are not related to black peppercorns, although except for a tiny seed, resemble them in appearance.  Mostly used in Asian cuisine, Szechuan peppercorns have a distinctive flavor, fragrance, and spiciness.  We have noticed when cooking with them that they can have a somewhat numbing

Pepper loses flavor and aroma through evaporation and once ground begins to lose its original spiciness immediately.  Therefore, it is best to grind whole peppercorns for maximum flavor.  Black and white peppercorns are available whole, cracked and coarsely or finely ground.  On a daily basis we grind so much pepper in the pasta shop that we have considered purchasing an electric pepper mill and would if we could locate one that would allow us to adjust the degree of coarseness.    

So what gives pepper its spicy heat?  The compound piperine.  It is found both in the outer fruit and in the seed and is the alkaloid responsible for the pungency of peppercorns.  Additionally, piperine has been found to have antioxidant properties and has been shown to dramatically increase absorption of selenium, vitamin B, beta-carotene and other nutrients.  So for your health’s sake, grab a pepper mill and begin grinding!

— Cindy Shultz is the owner and chef at Cindy Lutini’s Pasta for Life. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. from John Carroll University.