Black pepper blooms with small white flowers collected in hanging ears. The fruits of black pepper are spherical drupes with a hard shell, having a burning taste.
The birthplace of black pepper is the southwest coast of India, the current state of Kerala. Previously, these lands were called the land of pepper, and pepper itself was called the Malabar berry.
How to Choose Black Pepper?
When choosing ground black pepper, you should pay attention to the taste and color of the grinding. Fresh seasoning is always sharp and has a strong aroma, as it contains a large amount of piperine and essential oils. The color of high-quality ground pepper is heterogeneous, it consists of particles of light brown, greenish and gray shades. A uniform yellow, gray or black color indicates a large amount of impurities that manufacturers sometimes add to reduce the cost of goods. The black color of ground pepper may also indicate the use of unripe or rotten peas.
How to Store Black Pepper?
Ground pepper is recommended to be stored in a dry and dark place, away from strongly smelling products. Essential oils evaporate especially quickly from the finely ground seasoning, therefore, so that it does not lose its taste qualities, it should be kept in a hermetically sealed container. The room temperature should not exceed +25 °C.
When to Use Black Pepper?
Black pepper is one of the most effective digestive stimulants. This versatile seasoning is able to decorate any dish, starting from ordinary scrambled eggs and ending with masterpieces of haute cuisine. Food manufacturers add this spice to meat and sausage products, cheeses, canned food and marinades.
Spice is a mandatory component of most recipes of meat and fish dishes. It is added to soups and second courses of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and also used in the preparation of homemade sausage, ham and pates. Seasoning perfectly complements dishes of mushrooms and vegetables, no brine or marinade can do without it. Somewhat less often, black pepper is added to drinks and desserts.
How Much Black Pepper Should I Use?
A standard-sized teaspoon holds about 4 grams of ground black pepper.
When preparing soups and broths, ground pepper is added 10-15 minutes before the end of cooking. When cooking fried dishes, pieces of meat or fish are sprinkled with pepper and salt before roasting. Seasoning is added to the raw minced meat during the stirring process.
The amount of spice depends on the intended volume of the dish and personal preferences.
It is usually customary to use from ¼ to 1 teaspoon per 1 kg of meat. The maximum dose of ground black pepper per day per person should not exceed 5 grams.
What Spices are Combined with Black Pepper?
Despite the fact that in the mind of any person, the phrase “salt and pepper” evokes an image of perfect harmony, a truly wonderful combination is obtained by mixing ground black pepper with turmeric. Curcumin, which is part of it, is similar in its action to piperine — it is also an antiseptic, an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory agent.
Black pepper is perfectly combined with most spices, and is part of all popular mixes. It harmonizes well with cumin, garlic, coriander, as well as with its closest “relatives” — white, green and pink pepper.
Alternatives to Black Pepper
With individual intolerance to ground black pepper, it can be replaced with spices that have a similar bitter taste — cumin, mustard, coriander seeds, nutmeg. To make the dishes spicy, in the absence of allergies, you can use chili — paprika, cayenne, jalapeno.
Tips for Using Black Pepper
In combination with cinnamon and ginger, ground black pepper is added to desserts to give them a spicy taste. It is especially appropriate for the preparation of gingerbread and cupcakes, chocolate desserts, pies with apple and citrus filling, cookies.
This spice will give a peculiar taste to well—known drinks – it is added to milk tea, compotes, mulled wine and alcoholic cocktails.
To create a light, spicy salad dressing, ground pepper is mixed in various combinations with natural yogurt, honey, mustard, vinegar or lemon juice.
The salad is interesting with a combination of sweet carrots and beets with garlic, peanuts and cheese. Cooked chicken with spices turns out to be satisfying and can easily replace a full-fledged dish for dinner.
They are prepared quite simply and quickly, but it requires a lot of oil. Who is too lazy to read – traditionally, at the end of the post there will be the most understandable and short video lasting 2.5 minutes without words. I recommend watching the video for completeness.
I offer you, dear cooks, one of the ways of cooking (baking) chicken. The chicken turns out to be quite juicy and fragrant. The recipe is simple and belongs to the category of fast.
I really liked the cutlets – tender, juicy, fast and inexpensive. The recipe is lazy, but the result is wonderful!!! I would never have thought that cutlets in such proportions could be so delicious!
Today I want to present you a variation of the dish “Chicken drumsticks in sour cream and mustard sauce”. I have prepared it repeatedly. A very tasty dish.
What tender and delicious chicken breasts are obtained according to this recipe!!! I insist – you should try it, it’s very tasty! And finally, boldly increase the amount of ingredients – this will definitely not be enough!
Light, fragrant mushroom soup. It is prepared quickly and will benefit. Spelt – this ancient grain has a lighter taste than traditional whole wheat, with a pleasant nutty taste. This grain contains more fiber than modern wheat, which can help the body digest gluten more easily, reduce hypertension and increase the level of “good” cholesterol. Spelt also contains iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. The soup is also prepared from spelt or pearl barley, the barley is pre-boiled until half-cooked.
I found a lot of recipes on the Internet. But the filling is different everywhere: beef or lamb. And raw. That’s why I’m posting here my version of these Lithuanian pies, which I just fell in love with!
Delicious pie on a tender dough, with juicy filling and spicy filling-pate. You can change the filling to your liking. The pie just needs to be tasted – I invite you!
