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.
Duck baked in a sleeve is already very tasty, and with buckwheat porridge and pickled cucumbers – it’s not a shame to serve it on a holiday. By the way, the marinade here is a little unusual… To heal.
In a country where there is rarely hot water, sometimes there is none at all. Washing dishes is not a particularly pleasant activity anyway, and when the water is cold or there is not enough of it, it is generally a torment. Therefore, we will cook chicken with vegetables immediately with a side dish on the same frying pan or baking sheet with high sides. So to speak, two in one. And it turns out very tasty. Come visit!
Very tender, to my taste, the most delicious liver patties. Cooking them is not difficult at all, and they are the most budget option at all. So feel free to start cooking.
One recipe – three different soups. Fast, unusual, interesting, delicious. You can prepare a diet and lean soup, and for your beloved husband – meat soup. And also for yourself – easily, gently. What you like, you choose. I think I like all the options. Try to cook.
Cooked pickle with buckwheat, instead of the classic pearl barley. And why not, it’s very tasty and rich. Cooking this pickle is easy and interesting. I suggest you start cooking immediately and feed your loved ones.
Buckwheat porridge turns out to be very fragrant and crumbly, chicken turns out to be very tender. It is important not to overcook the chicken in a frying pan so that the juice does not have time to leak out. Then buckwheat porridge will turn out very juicy.
Happy New Year to everyone! Merry Christmas! I am treating you to a wonderful buckwheat meatloaf! It is prepared very easily on one wave. The taste is pleasant and delicate. Your family will love it.
I wanted to cook something new and original from minced meat. I remembered that I have a cookbook “The best minced meat dishes”, leafed through it and found an interesting recipe, as always, I had to add additives on my own, adapt them to my own desires and capabilities. The result is a wonderful, juicy inside and crispy outside meat pie. In addition, it is not quite troublesome in preparation and simple in composition.
