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Pepper
 Do you like
to grind your own pepper? You may be losing the best pepper flavor. Here's why.
Pepper taste is determined by the amount of essential oil in the peppercorn. If you're not
buying the very best peppercorns, than the flavor will not be the best. In addition,
when you grind pepper most of the oils are left on the grinder. That means that most
of the taste is left there too.
Here's a little history of pepper.
Originating in India, and demanded by many, pepper has been used in trading as an exchange
medium like money. During certain periods in history, it has been valued so highly that a
single peppercorn dropped on the floor would be hunted like a lost pearl.
There are four well-known types of
peppercorns,(a.k.a. berries) black, white, green and pink. Black pepper is the dried,
unripe berry. White pepper starts out the same as the black, but is allowed to ripen more
fully on the vine. The outer shell is then removed by soaking the berry in water until the
shell falls off. Green pepper is from the same fruit but is harvested before maturity.
Pink pepper, which comes from the French island of Reunion, has a brittle, papery pink
skin enclosing a hard, irregular seed, much smaller than the whole fruit.
Pepper is best granulated or sprinkled
directly on to food. With hot food it is best to add pepper towards the end of the cooking
process, to preserve its aroma. Peppercorns should be stored in airtight containers, away
from sunlight.
The peppercorn first gained fame for medicinal purposes as
a digestive stimulant and expectorant. Its hot and pungent flavor causes the membranes
inside the nose and throat to exude a lubricating secretion, helpful to those in
respiratory distress as an aid to cough up offending phlegm and mucus. Pepper was also
used in an external ointment to relieve skin afflictions and hives.
Black pepper is also an effective deterrent to insects. A
solution of one-half teaspoon freshly ground pepper to one quart of warm water sprayed on
plants can be toxic to ants, potato bugs, silverfish, and even roaches and moths. A
sprinkling of ground pepper will also deter insect paths in non-garden areas.
Watkin's pepper is SNEEZE-PROOF! :-) We
carry several pepper products and blends, processed from high-oil Malabar and Lampoon
peppercorns, the two most flavorful varieties. What makes our pepper different is that not
only do we choose only the peppercorns with the highest oil content, but we also granulate
our pepper instead of grinding it. Since the pepper oil clings to the grinder, granulating
it results in more pepper flavor. In addition, our pepper is free from twigs, leaves and
bug parts. It says Pure on the label. We can't say that if there are any fillers in it at
all.
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