Food Alphabet
Black pepper
The birthplace of black pepper is considered to be the south-west coast of India, which used to be called Malihabar, and today is called Kerala. In general, "malihabar" is translated as "land of pepper", which is quite understandable, since in ancient times a climbing bush of black pepper grew on this coast, reaching a height of 6 meters.
Europe got acquainted with black pepper thanks to Alexander the Great, who brought spices from a campaign in India. Then, for pepper – the "burning rose of the east" – and at the same time for other spices, Columbus went to India, who instead of a new route to the Indian coast discovered an unknown land with rich spices – America.
As for our country, since black pepper was the first overseas spice that appeared in Russia, in the Russian language, "pepper" began to mean any spices at all: "spicy" – feathered, peppered.
To date, the pepper family has more than 1,500 species of plants with spherical fruits-drupes, of which 5-6 species are used as spices and are cultivated in India, Vietnam and Ceylon.
Black pepper is a plant culture from which various spices are obtained by processing, such as black pepper, white pepper, green pepper and pink pepper. Although the names" green pepper "and" pink pepper " are also known as the fruits of other plants that are not related to black pepper. All these spices are used both in the ground form and in the form of peas.
Black pepper peas are the fruits of an evergreen vine that grows in tropical countries: they are harvested unripe, and then dried to black in the sun. True, the fruits of mountain pepper, the so-called prutnyak, or Adam's tree, are often confused with black pepper peas. This type of pepper is found wild in the mountains of Central Asia or grown in gardens. Despite the fact that outwardly the fruits of the prutnyak resemble black pepper peas, they do not have a sharp and spicy aroma.
At the same time, the black pepper itself smells of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon and has a burning, spicy taste. That is why it is often used for cooking meat, fish, egg, vegetable, mushroom and even sweet dishes. Pepper is also often used in the manufacture of marinades, and in addition, in canning and smoking.
Finally, we add that experts advise buying peppers in peas, and if there is a need for ground pepper, it is better to grind it immediately before use!
