Profile: Peppercorns

There are certain ingredients in my kitchen that I just couldn't live without. Most are deceptively simple, yet amazing in their ability to enhance, or even transform, a dish. These are my "go-to" ingredients on nights when I need to improvise a meal using only what I have on hand. Peppercorns, and particularly black peppercorns, are one such ingredient. It is easy to take pepper for granted because it's everywhere - tucked into the cupboard, rounding out the ingredient list in myriad recipes, even sitting on the kitchen table! In addition, its flavor often seems to get hidden among all of the other elements of a dish. However, I've found that using it alone (or almost alone) to season fresh ingredients adds that little bit of extra interest that can make a really simple dish work.

It may seem surprising that dried black peppercorns, white peppercorns, and green peppercorns all come from the same plant, Piper nigrum. What's more, they are all really the fruit of that plant, let ripen to different stages and processed in different ways. For both black and green peppercorns, the berries are picked while still unripe. Then, the black is allowed to dry with the skin still intact - it is this skin that shrivels and turns black, giving the black peppercorn its distinctive color. To produce the green peppercorn, the berry is merely treated to prevent its skin from turning black. Conversely, the white peppercorn is the berry with the skin removed. To accomplish this, the berries are allowed to ripen, then they are soaked and the skin is removed before the rest of the berry is dried. Ripe Piper nigrum berries are red, and red peppercorns do exist, but are not widely available and should not be confused with the "pink peppercorns" often found in peppercorn blends. These are the fruit of a different plant altogether!

Pepper gets its spicy quality from the compound piperine, and this compound, along with pepper's other aromatic qualities, can quickly evaporate once they are released. For that reason, I am a firm believer in a good pepper grinder, used as close to service as possible! So much is lost from pre-ground pepper, next to freshly ground, it doesn't even taste like the same spice. In my kitchen, the pepper grinder is always on hand, and is integral in (starting and) "finishing" many a dish. My favorite uses of pepper are very simple - a couple of turns over a green salad before serving makes the salad restaurant-worthy, combining pepper with citrus juice and olive oil produces a simple, bright marinade, and sprinkling it over potatoes or sweet onions before roasting creates great contrast. I've even used pepper to top strawberries...and in cookies! If you don't have a pepper grinder, consider investing in one now. It could change the way you cook.