Peppercorns

Most cooks prefer to purchase whole peppercorns and grind them as needed as this produces the most potent pepper tastes and aroma. When you grind pepper yourself you will find it more robust and pungent than pepper purchased already-ground. Freshly ground pepper (if you have not tried it before) will make quite a change in your salsas, pastas and soups. Today almost all pepper that ships from Indian is considered "Malabar" pepper – which is considered by most to be some of the finest pepper in the world. In recent years Tellicherry Pepper has increasingly gained in popularity and this higher grade produces a larger, uniform "bolder" berry. Tellicherry gets its name from of the port on the Northern end of the Malabar coast. Another widely popular pepper – Malabar Peppercorn, also comes from India and the quality is considered by many pepper aficionados, to be just as good as the more gourmet Tellicherry pepper. The Malabar pepper coloring is also a bit lighter than the Tellicherry. Just over half of all Malabar Pepper is marketed as black pepper while the remaining pepper is promoted as white pepper.

Black peppercorns are produced from the pepper plant where the fruit is picked fully grown, but still in its immature green state (before it fully ripens). It is then fermented and dried in the sun where it wrinkles and turns dark brown or black in color. The final result is a wonderfully flavored pepper that features a strongly pungent taste with a robust aroma that, when ground, produces a mixture of the lighter colored core and the darker particles of the outer skin.

White Peppercorns are harvested from the berries of the same pepper plant species as the black but they are left on the vine to fully ripen. These ripened reddish-yellow berries are picked and undergo a process called retting that removes the epidermis and part of the mesocarp. The berries are first placed in gunny sacks, and then dried in the sun for 1 to 2 weeks where the outer skin ferments. The decayed skins are then soaked in water where the outer skin is “rubbed off” in water (the skins separate and float to the surface while the inner kernels sink to the bottom). The remaining cores are collected, cleaned, and again dried in the sun where they turn a bleached white. The resulting product, because crop weight is greatly reduced, is more expensive than black pepper. White pepper with the removal of its skin loses its pungent outer shell and with it much of its essential mesocarpal oil, so its taste is milder with a hint of mustiness. In Europe white pepper is widely popular.

Green Peppercorns are produced by blanching the immature green fruits in boiling water, treating them with potassium metabisulphite, and then either dehydrating or freeze drying them. The sulfite acts an inhibitor that helps prevent blackening from oxidation that is normally catalyzed by that enzyme. The resulting Green peppercorns have a flavor and bite that is much milder than the black peppercorn, but they do possess a subtle zesty quality that has made them a sought after gourmet item.

Pink Peppercorns while often grouped in with the other peppercorns is actually totally are unrelated to the black, green and white peppercorns. Pink Peppercorns are from a South American tree and with their soft outer shell they are coveted for their reddish color and almost sweet, fruity taste. The Sichuan Peppercorn is widely grown and used in many Asian dishes and like the pink peppercorn is not related to the other peppercorns or chili peppers. It is a key component of Chinese Five-Spice Powder and the taste is a bit pungent and very fragrant with a hint of citrus. It also doesn’t possess the heat of other peppercorns or chili peppers.

We also offer a variety of peppercorn blends – these possess both a wonderful combination of tastes as well as interesting color variations. You will also find both the pink and Sichuan peppercorns in some of these blends.