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.
Diet soup, healthy and delicious! This soup will diversify your menu well during Lent, it is useful for those who want to lose weight, and for everyone who adheres to proper nutrition!
“This terrine is a wonderful recipe for a classic French dish that has completely ruined the modern food industry.” Therefore, we will prepare it ourselves, especially since it is not so difficult. I suggest starting with a liver supplement like olives, instead of the usual carrots for many.
This terrine is a cold snack. Often such a snack is prepared on festive tables. I have it so often because my guests just don’t come to me if I don’t have this snack. Therefore, I recommend that you try to cook it. Let your guests be satisfied.
I offer you a recipe for soup, which was fed by Spanish grandmothers to their grandchildren. The soup turns out to be thick, rich, but at the same time low-fat and easy for the stomach. Cauliflower is a storehouse of trace elements, and ginger protects against colds.
Everyone knows that the liver is a useful product. And delicious… So I try to cook it in different ways. This time I have a beef liver terrine on the menu. As a side dish, fresh vegetables go with it, but it was also good with mashed potatoes.
Terrines are vegetable, meat and fish. Fill the mold with the ingredients according to the recipe, close the lid tightly and put it in the oven. The finished terrine is cooled, cut into pieces and served with bread. This dish is ideal for a snack, breakfast, picnic, and for a dinner party, as a cold snack.
This dish, without a doubt, is worthy to decorate a festive table, but it will also come in handy in the everyday menu. As a festive dish and a delicious sandwich for breakfast.
Everyone knows that soups are very different: cold, hot, mashed soup, cream soup, etc. Have you ever met a hot beetroot? If not, then we urgently need to fix the situation and cook this amazing soup, I assure you, there will be no indifferent to it. Very tasty, bright, juicy!
