Seasoning School - Pepper

Pepper is a wonderful seasoning, but it’s very aromatic and some types carry a lot of heat, so it can overpower the other flavours in a dish. Often intense and invigorating, pepper can easily steal the show with its pungency. So it needs to be treated with respect.

Different foods respond differently to pepper. It adds bitter notes, which work better with some flavours and textures than others. For example, a steak can take a great deal more pepper than a salad.

Pepper is also highly versatile – which is why it’s kept on the table more than other spices, such as cumin or mustard seeds. As well as being an essential cooking ingredient, it brightens up the flavours of food after it’s cooked. That’s why we sprinkle it over pizzas and pasta, and why in restaurants we’re often asked if we’d like to add pepper to our meal.

What Does Pepper Do To Food?

Pepper helps to clarify the flavours on the tongue. When you add it to dishes, it doesn’t just season, it also adds flavour and increases the tastiness of the food.

Freezing pepper makes the flavour more pronounced. And if you cook it for too long, it loses its aroma – so adding pepper at the end of cooking helps preserve its flavour, and gives it more impact in a dish.

What Type of Pepper Should I Use?

There is no substitute for the fragrance of freshly ground pepper. Pre-ground pepper, in our opinion, will never release the same intensity of flavour. Our Gourmet Precision Mills will allow you to get an extremely fine grind without compromising the aroma or taste. This will suit a variety of dishes from coarse in a marinade for steak or fine to top a pizza.

Types of Pepper

Black Peppercorns
The dried fruits of the pepper plant, and one of the most distinctive spices

White Peppercorns
Black peppercorns without husks; good for white sauces and mashed potato, as you don’t see them like black pepper

Long Pepper
The dried fruit of a flowering vine, native to Indonesia; loved by the Romans to flavour their food, and now used in Asian, North African and Indian dishes

Green Peppercorns
Unripe berries from the same plant as black peppercorns; with distinctive aromas, they’re less versatile than black peppercorns, and best with meats such as steak

Pink Peppercorns
Not really peppercorns, but the dried berries of a shrub known as the Peruvian pepper-tree; adding a fruity, floral note with a little heat, they’re good with seafood and in light sauces

Sichuan Peppercorns
Also not really pepper, but the dried rinds of the berries of a type of ash tree; lemony as well as peppery, they work well in fried spice dishes