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.
For a lean New Year’s treat, prepare a manta with mushroom filling. Dough with flour from durum wheat enriches the taste and makes the dish healthy and dietary. And the oil with herbs and garlic will give a delicious flavor. On fast days, you can use butter or sour cream for the sauce.
This roll is a lifesaver stick. A series of holidays is approaching, you often don’t really want to cook, and it would be good to serve hot every day. I cook this roll (or two) a week or more before the New Year and freeze it. When the guests are on the doorstep, I send them directly into the oven in foil and serve them on the table in 40 minutes. Thanks to the pepper and cucumbers, the roll looks elegant in the cut. Cucumbers are better to take pickled, they are sweet and sour and especially good in this dish.
The recipe is interesting, but I didn’t dare to try it for a long time. Very unusual, but delicious. For those who are not afraid to try something new.
The simplest ingredients, but for everyday dishes their combination is perfect. What’s also good is that the products for such a casserole – and it turns out, in fact, it’s a casserole – are extremely affordable at any time of the year. The dominant taste here is steamed cabbage (white and cauliflower) and chicken meat. Potato shell is softened with sour cream, and rosemary gives piquancy.
My family doesn’t really like the combination of chicken and citrus, but over time I found an option that suited everyone… The chicken turns out juicy, delicious, with a delicate aroma of orange and garlic and a sweet and salty crust…
In the mini-selection there are two recipes for pickling mushrooms, one has already been tested and now I will present it, and in the second version the mushrooms are marinated until tomorrow!
Almost Julien, you might say. Only I added small pasta of hard varieties to the bottom of the coconut chips before laying out the components of Julienne. Also, instead of chicken meat, I used a ready-made turkey roll. A wonderful snack or just serve instead of hot on the New Year’s table at the very beginning of the festive dinner.
A wonderful, very tender and juicy snack. It is steamed, which is important, it turns out light and tasty. The filling can be prepared any – to your taste. Everything is very simple, fast, affordable, the result is amazing.