Black pepper is the most popular spice in the world, we use it daily, on everything, but do we really know anything about it?
If you are like most people chances are that eat everyday. And if like most people you prefer your meals to be cooked, then you’ve probably had a lot of black pepper on them.
When the topic first crossed my mind I thought “peppercorn! that’s where they’re from.” But honestly, I have no idea what peppercorn is, or how it is made into black pepper, or even white pepper.
Doing some research I found out that black pepper is also the name of the flowering vine which bears black pepper. It is however not that black.
A black pepper vine.
This plant carries small pea-shaped fruits, these are the peppercorn. At maturity, these fruits are dark red, but the way of preparation determines what type of pepper it ends up.
If cooked while unripe, you’ll get black pepper. But if you simply just dry it, you’ll get green pepper. White pepper on the other hand comes from ripe fruit seeds.
The black pepper plant is native to south India, and Vietnam is currently the world’s largest producer and exporter of its many forms.
It is the most used spice in the world, and is almost always found on any diner table right next to the salt.
