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.
A good piece of meat is sometimes all you need to be happy. It is prepared simply and quickly. Almost nothing needs to be cut and rubbed. And no one expects that there will be a liver under the cheese cap. Sometimes I have small pieces of liver left, I boil them, grate them on a coarse grater, put them in a container and put them in the freezer. This time, such a preparation was useful for this meat. We love to eat this meat with tortillas with spinach and mozzarella.
Kebab is a dish of minced meat strung on a skewer and grilled. This dish is a popular variant of street fast food in Turkish, Caucasian and Asian cuisines. In order for the shish kebab to hold well on the skewer, minced meat must be kneaded for a long time and thoroughly until its consistency becomes viscous and sticky. After all, there are no binding components in minced meat (eggs and bread). The composition of the Adana kebab, in addition to meat and onions, included a paste of paprika and hot red pepper. For a brighter taste, I advise you to pre-bake Bulgarian and hot peppers. In my recipe I will use a mixture of beef and lamb minced meat. Beef is used chopped, and mutton is twisted in a meat grinder with a large grate. After cooking, minced meat should stand in a cool place for at least a day.
I suggest cooking schnitzel in the oven according to a very simple recipe. Tender and hearty pork schnitzel will be an excellent dish both on weekdays and on holidays. The meat turns out tender, fragrant, juicy, which is impossible to resist.
Fish according to this recipe is cooked in a frying pan covered with parchment paper. Thanks to this, it remains juicy and retains its useful properties.
After I had heard enough delicious stories about overseas treats during my foreign trips, this salad was born. Very tasty, spring-like, bright! A kind of union of Europe and Asia. For a quick preparation, even more intense taste and aroma, I discovered a mixture of bulgur with mushrooms and spices from Mistral. It tastes better than just bulgur, believe me!
Sometimes I want wine, but only a couple of glasses. The rest is sent to the refrigerator. Sometimes we have so much to do that we forget about wine for a couple of days. During this time, it loses its taste qualities. Of course, you can finish it, but without much pleasure. But such remnants of wine make an interesting sauce. With sourness and a special aftertaste. I already have a recipe for “wine potatoes”, but there potatoes are baked in the oven in small portions and for a long time. I rethought this recipe and simplified it for cooking in a frying pan. I picked up a recipe for osso buco from turkey, which also plays a special role in wine.