Peppercorns, black, white, green, red..

After finding some very good food blogs out there today, which put mine to shame I must add, especialy those which are posting on the topic  Weekend Herb Blogging. It is now in it’s 87th week and growing. 

This week it will be hosted by Astrid from Paulchen’s Food Blog. I might be a bit of a late joiner but I guess thats the fun of the Internet. Anyway without dribbling too much lets get down to business.

Peppercorns, black, white, green, red and two cases of pink!!

I was just going to fill up my pepper-mill when I came across these the Tasmanian Peppercorns in my pantry. Which led me to do this entry. My first, so it can only get better, I hope.

But first let’s find out a little more about pepper.

Pepper comes from a flowering vine called Piperceae. It is grown in tropical regions of the world. After the vine flower’s the berry appears.

Green, white, pink & black pepper all comes from the same berries from the above plant.

Green and Black pepper are made from the unripe berries. The unripe berries are naturally green, and the green peppercorns that are usually available have been pickled in brine or dried. They mainly come from Madagascar and are firm and spicy also a little powdery.

The black peppercorns mainly from India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, start out green, are washed then sun dried or kiln dried. The natural enzyme in the pericarp or fruity outside in the corn helps to break down the enzymes and release the oil which in time turns them black. The corns shrink and wrinkle up in the drying process.

White and Pink pepper are made from the ripe berries. The white pepper is made by soaking the berries in cold water which allows the fruity outside to decompose, inturn allowing it to be easily rubbed away. The berries are then dried. They mostly come from Malaysia.

As for the pink or red pepper (Latin name piper nirum) from India, which we must not get confused with the pink peppercorns is made from the ripe red berries which are preserved in brine. They have a spicy flavour much like the black pepper.

The pink peppercorns, pepper rose or baies rose are from a different pepper tree. (Latin name schinus terebinthifolius) Rose colour pink berries have a hard brown seed with a papery shell. It has a delicate flavour, slightly piquant. They usually come from Brazil and are either pickled or dried.  

As for the Tasmanian Peppercorns which look very much like the black peppercorns they taste a little sweet at first with only a mild spice to them.

I am not sure if this will be accepted by the WHB committee, but off it goes and lets see next week. Many thanks to all involved with the Weekend Herb Blogging. It is a fantastic idea and I wish you continuous success with it.

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