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Pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

General synonyms

AlbanianPiper
Amharicቁንዶ ብርብሪ
Kundo berbere
Arabicفلفل
فُلْفُل, فِلْفِل
Fulful, Filfil
Aramaicܦܠܦܠ
Pelpel
ArmenianՊղպեղ
Bghbegh, Pghpegh
Assameseজালুক, গোল মৰিচ
Jaluk, Gol morich
AzeriBibər, İstiot
Бибәр, Истиот
BasquePiper, Piperbeltza
BelarusianПерац
Perac
Bengaliগোল মরিচ
Golmorich
Bodoगलमरीस
Golmoris
BretonPebr, Pebr du, Pebr gwenn, Pebr glas
BulgarianПипер, Пиперени зърна
Piper, Pipereni zurna
BurmeseNayukon, Nga-youk-kuan, Ngayok-kaung
CatalanPebre
Chakma𑄉𑄮𑄣𑄴 𑄟𑄧𑄢𑄨𑄌𑄴
Gol Morich, Gol Morich
Chinese
(Cantonese)
胡椒 [wùh jìu]
Wuh jiu
Chinese
(Mandarin)
胡椒 [hú jiāo]
Hu jiao, Hu-chiao
Copticⲡⲉⲡⲣⲟⲥ, ⲫⲓⲡⲣⲟⲥ
Pepros, Phipros
CroatianBiber, Papar
CzechPepř
DanishPeber
Dhivehiއަސޭމިރުސް
Aseymirus
Dogriकाली मिर्च
Kali mirch
DutchPeper
EsperantoPipro
EstonianPipar
Farsiفلفل
Felfel
FinnishPippuri
FrenchPoivre
FrisianPiper
GaelicPiobar
GalicianPementa
GaroGolmoris
Georgianპილპილი, პერიცა
P’ilp’ili, Pilpili, P’eritsa, Peritsa
GermanPfeffer
GreekΠιπέρι, Κοινό πιπέρι
Piperi, Koino piperi
Greek (Old)Πέπερι
Peperi
Gujaratiમરી
Mari
HausaMasoro
Hebrewפלפל, פילפיל
פִּלְפֵּל, פִּלפֵּל, פִּילפִּיל
Pilpel, Pilpil
Hindiगोल मिर्च, काली मिर्च
Kali mirch, Gol mirch, Gulki
HungarianBors
IcelandicPipar
IndonesianMerica
IrishPiobar
ItalianPepe
Japanese胡椒
こしょう
コショウ, ペッパー
Koshō, Kosho, Peppa
Kannadaಮೆಣಸು
Menasu
Kashmiriمرژ
Marts
KazakhБұрыш
Burış
KhasiSoh Marit, Soh mrit
KhmerMrech
Korean후추, 페퍼
Huchu, Pepeo, Pepo
Laoພິກນ້ອຍ, ພິກໄທ
Mak phik thai, Phik noi, Phik thai
LatinPiper
LatvianPipari
LithuanianPipirai
MacedonianБибер, Пипер
Biber, Piper
Maithiliमरिच
Marich
MalayLada, Biji lada
Malayalamകുരുമുളക്, യവനപ്രിയം
Kurumulagu, Yavanapriyam
MalteseBżar
Manipuri (Meitei-Lon)গোলমোরোক
ꯒꯣꯜꯃꯣꯔꯣꯛ
Golmorok
Marathiमिरे
Mire
MizoThing hmarcha
MongolianПерьц, Чинжүү
Pjer’ts, Chinzhüü
Nepaliमरिच
Marich
Newari
(Nepalbhasa)
मले
Male
NorwegianPepper
Oriyaଗୋଲମରୀଚ, ମରୀଚ
Gola maricha, Maricha
OssetianБырц, Цывзы
Byrts, Tsyvzy
PolishPieprz
PortuguesePimenta, Pimenta-do-reino, Pimenta-da-índia
ProvençalPebre, Peure
Punjabiਕਾਲੀ ਮਿਰਚ
Kali mirch
RomanianPiper
RussianПерец
Perets
SanskritMarica, Vella, Krishnan, Krishnadi
SantaliGulki Marich
SerbianПапар, Бибер
Papar, Biber
Sinhalaගම්මිරිස්
Gammiris
SlovakPeprovník
SlovenianPoper
SpanishPimienta
SrananPepre
SwahiliPilipili
SwedishPeppar
TagalogPaminta
TajikМурч
Murch
Tamilமிளகு, யவனப்பிரிதம்
Milagu, Yavanappiriyam
Teluguమిరియాలు, మిరియము
Miriyalu, Miriyamu, Savyamu
Thaiพริกไทย
Prik thai
Tibetanན་ལེ་ཤམ་, ཕོ་བ་རིལ་བུ་
Nalesham; Pho ba ril bu, Fowarilbu (writing uncertain)
Tuluಎಡ್ಡೆ ಮುಂಚಿ
Edde munchi
TurkishKarabiber
TurkmenBurç
Бурч
UkrainianПерець
Perets
Urduگول مرچ
Gol mirch
UzbekMurch
Мурч
VietnameseCây tiêu, Hạt-tiêu, Hồ tiêu, Tiêu
Cay tieu, Hat-tieu, Ho tieu, Tieu
WelshPupur, Pybyr
Yiddishפֿעפֿער
Fefer
Special synonyms for Black pepper

pharmaceuticalFructus Piperis nigri
Arabicفلفل أسود
فُلْفُل أَسْوَد, فِلْفِل أَسْوَد
Fulful aswad, Filfil aswad
AzeriQara istiot
Гара истиот
BelarusianЧорны перац
Čorny perac
Bengaliকালো মরিচ
Kalo Marich
BulgarianЧерен пипер
Cheren piper
CatalanPebre negre
Chinese
(Cantonese)
黑胡椒 [hàk wùh jìu]
Hak wuh jiu
Chinese
(Mandarin)
黑胡椒 [hēi hú jiāo]
Hei hu jiao
CroatianCrni papar
CzechČerný pepř
DanishSort Peber
DutchZwarte peper
EsperantoNigra pipro
EstonianMust pipar
Farsiفلفل سیاه
Felfel Siah
FinnishMustapippuri
FrenchPoivre noir
GaelicPiobar dubh
GalicianPementa Negra
Georgianშავი პილპილი, შავი პერიცა
Shavi P’ilp’ili, Shavi p’eritsa
GermanSchwarzer Pfeffer
GreekΠιπέρι μαύρο
Piperi mauro
Gujaratiકાળા મરી
Kala mari
Hebrewפלפל שחור
פִּלְפֵּל שָׁחוֹר
Pilpel shahor
Hindiकाली मिर्च
Kali mirch
HungarianFeketebors
IcelandicSwartur pipar
IndonesianMerica hitam
ItalianPepe nero
Japaneseブラックペッパー
Burakku-peppa
Kannadaಕರಿ ಮೆಣಸು
Kari Menasu
Korean블랙 페퍼, 페퍼블랙
Pullaek pepo, Pepeo-bullaek
LatvianMelnie pipari
LithuanianJuodieji pipirai
MacedonianЦрн пипер
Crn piper
MalayLada hitam
Malayalamകറുത്ത കുരുമുളക്
Karutta kurumulagu
Marathiकाली मिरे
Kala mire
MongolianХар перьц, Хар чинжүү
Har pjer’ts, Har chinzhüü
Nepaliकालो मरिच
Kalo marich
Newari
(Nepalbhasa)
हकु मले
Haku male
Oriyaକଳମରୀଚ
Kala maricha
PolishCzarny pieprz
PortuguesePimenta-preta, Pimenta-negra
Punjabiਕਲੀ ਮਿਰਚ
Kali mirch
RomanianPiper negru
RussianЧёрный перец, Черный перец
Chyornyj perets, Chernyj perets
SerbianБибер црни
Biber crni
Sinhalaකලු ගම්මිරිස්, ගම්මිරිස්
Kalu gammiris, Gammiris
SlovakČierne korenie
SlovenianČrni poper
SpanishPimienta negra
SwedishSvartpeppar
Tamilகறுபபு மிளகு
Karuppu milagu
Thaiพริกไทยดำ
Prik thai dam
Tigrinyaበርበረ ጸሊም
Berbere tselim
TurkishKara biber, Karabiber
UkrainianПерець чорний
Perets chornyj
Urduکالی مرچ, فلفل سیاہ
Kali mirch, Filfil siah
VietnameseTiêu đen, Hạt tiêu đen
Tieu den, Hat tieu den
Yiddishשװאַרצער פֿעפֿער
Shvartser fefer
Special synonyms for White Pepper

pharmaceuticalFructus Piperis albi
Arabicفلفل أبيض
فُلْفُل أَبْيَض, فِلْفِل أَبْيَض
Fulful abyad, Filfil abyad
Aramaicܢܘܪܢ
Nuran
BelarusianБелы перац
Bely perac
Bengaliসাদা মরিচ
Sada Marich
BulgarianБял пипер
Byal piper
Chinese
(Cantonese)
白胡椒 [baahk wùh jìu]
Baahk wuh jiu
Chinese
(Mandarin)
白胡椒 [bái hú jiāo], 胡椒面 [hú jiāo miàn]
Bai hu jiao; Hu jiao mian (ground white pepper)
Copticⲡⲁⲣⲁⲡⲡⲓ
Parappi
CroatianBijeli papar
CzechBílý pepř
DanishHvid peber
DutchWitte peper
Farsiفلفل سفید
Felfel sefid
FinnishValkopippuri
EsperantoBlanka pipro
EstonianValge pipar
FrenchPoivre blanc
GaelicPiobar geal
GalicianPementa Branca
Georgianთეთრი პილპილი, თეთრი პერიცა
Tetri P’ilp’ili, Tetri p’eritsa
GermanWeißer Pfeffer
GreekΠιπέρι άσπρο
Piperi aspro
Gujaratiસફેદ મરી
Saphed mari
Hebrewפלפל לבן
פִּלְפֵּל לָבָן
Pilpel lavan
Hindiसफेद मिर्च
Saphed mirch
HungarianFehérbors
IcelandicHvítur pipar
IndonesianMerica putih
ItalianPepe bianco
Kannadaಬಿಳಿ ಮೆಣಸು
Bili Menasu
LatvianBaltie pipari
LithuanianBaltieji pipirai
MacedonianБел пипер
Bel piper
MalayLada putih
Malayalamവെളുത്ത കുരുമുളക്, വെള്ള കുരുമുളക്
Veluttha kurumulagu, Vella kurumulagu
MongolianЦагаан перьц, Цагаан чинжүү
Tsagaan pjer’ts, Tsaagan chinzhüü
Nepaliसेतो मरिच
Seto marich
Newari
(Nepalbhasa)
तुयु मले
Tuyu male
NorwegianHvitpepper
Oriyaଧଳାମରୀଚ
Dhala maricha
PolishBiały pieprz
PortuguesePimenta-branca
Punjabiਸਫ਼ੈਦ ਮਿਰਚ
Safaid mirch
RomanianPiper alb
RussianБелый перец
Belyj perets
SerbianБибер бели
Biber beli
Sinhalaසුදු ගම්මිරිස්
Sudu gammiris
SlovakBiele korenie
SlovenianBeli poper
SpanishPimienta blanca
SwedishVitpeppar
Tamilவெள்ளை மிளகு
Vellai milagu
Teluguతెల్ల మిరియాలు
Tella Miriyalu
Thaiพริกไทยขาว
Prik thai khao
TurkishBeyaz biber
UkrainianПерець білий
Perets bila
Urduدکھنی مرچ, سفید مرچ
Dakhni mirch, Safed Mirch
VietnameseTiêu trắng, Hạt tiêu trắng
Tieu trang, Hat tieu trang
Yiddishװײַסער פֿעפֿער
Vayser fefer
Special synonyms for Green Pepper

Arabicفلفل أخضر
فُلْفُل أَخْضَر, فِلْفِل أَخْضَر
Fulful akhdar, Filfil akhdar
BelarusianЗялёны перац
Ziaĺiony perac
BulgarianЗелен пипер
Zelen piper
CroatianZeleni papar
CzechZelený pepř
FinnishViherpippuri
EsperantoVerda pipro
EstonianRoheline pipar
FrenchPoivre vert
GaelicPiobar glas
GermanGrüner Pfeffer
Gujaratiલીલા મરી
Lila mari
Hebrewפלפל ירוק
פִּלְפֵּל יָרוֹק
Pilpel yarok
HungarianZöldbors
IcelandicGrænn pipar
IndonesianMerica hijau
ItalianPepe verde
Kannadaಹಸಿರು ಮೆಣಸು
Hasiru Menasu
LatvianZaļie pipari
LithuanianŽalieji pipirai
MacedonianЗелен пипер
Zelen piper
MalayLada hijau
Malayalamപച്ച കുരുമുളക്
Paccha kurumulagu
PortuguesePimenta-verde
Punjabiਹਰੀ ਮਿਰਚ
Hari mirch
RussianЗелёный перец, Зеленый перец
Zelyonyj perets, Zelenyj perets
SerbianБибер зелени
Biber zeleni
SlovakZelené korenie
SlovenianZeleni poper
SwedishGrönpeppar
Tamilபச்சை மிளகு
Pacchai milagu
Thaiพริกไทย
Prik thai
TurkishYeşil biber
UkrainianПерець зелений
Perets zelenyj
Yiddishגרינער פֿעפֿער
Griner fefer
Piper nigrum: Dried peppercorns: Green, black, red and white
Dried peppercorns: Green, black, red and white

Piper nigrum: Pickled peppercorns: Green and red
Pickled peppercorns: Green and red
Used plant part

Dried fruits, usually known as pepper­corns. Depend­ing on harvest time and pro­cessing, pepper­corns can be black, white, green and red (actually, reddish brown). The traditional types are black and white; dried green peppercorns are a more recent innovation, but are now rather common in Western countries. Red peppercorns, however, are still a very rare commodity. See below for details.

Peppercorns are also available pickled in brine or vinegar. This is the traditional form of preserving green peppercorns, but in recent years, preserved red peppercorns have become increasingly popular. There is no pickled black or white pepper.

Plant family

Piperaceae (pepper family).

Sensory quality

Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green peppercorns are more aromatic than the white ones. Green peppercorn have a somewhat immature, herbaceous fragrance. Red peppercorns combine a sugary–sweet taste with the mature pungency and flavour of black pepper.

Piper nigrum: Unripe pepper infrutescense
Unripe pepper fruits
Piper nigrum: Fresh ripe red pepper berries
Fresh red peppercorns
Main constituents

Black pepper contains about 3% essential oil, whose aroma is dominated (max. 80%) by mono­terpene hydro­carbons: sabinene, β-pinene, limonene, furthermore terpinene, α-pinene, myrcene, Δ3-carene and mono­terpene derivatives (borneol, carvone, carvacrol, 1,8-cineol, linalool). Sesqui­terpenes make up about 20% of the essential oil. Main compound is β-caryo­phyllene, while others like α-humulene, β-bisabolone and caryo­phyllene oxide and ketone appear only in traces; yet some work reports significant amounts of germ­acrene D, a ten-ring sesqui­terpene hydro­carbon. Phenyl­propanoids (eugenol, methyl eugenol, myristicin, safrole) are found in traces, too.

The most important odorants organo­leptically in black pepper are linalool, α-phellandrene, limonene, myrcene and α-pinene; furthermore, branched-chain aldehydes were found (3-methyl­butanal, methyl­propanal). The musty flavour of old pepper is attributed to the formation of hetero­cyclic com­pounds (2-isopropyl-3-methoxy­pyrazine, 2,3-diethyl-5-methyl­pyrazine) in concentrations of about 1 ppb. (Eur. Food Res. Technol., 209, 16, 1999)

Loss of mono­terpenes (α-pinene, limonene) and other small molecules (methyl­propanal, 3-methyl­butanal, butyric acid) due to bad storage conditions yields aroma detoriation (especially for ground pepper) and should be avoided.

The essential oil of white pepper has received less attention; the content of essential oil is lower (1.5%), and the most abundant compounds are monoterpene hydrocarbons: limonene, β-pinene, α-pinene and α-phellandrene. Organo­leptically most important are linalool (although occurring as a minor component), limonene, α-pinene and phenyl­propanoids (eugenol, piperonal); furthermore, short-chain aldehydes and carboxylic acids have been found important. In overstored white pepper, skatole (3-methyl­indol) is formed (2 ppm) and imparts an disagreeable, faecal flavour. (Eur. Food Res. Technol., 209, 27, 1999)

The pungent principle in pepper is an alkaloid-analog compound, piperine; it is the amide of 5-(2,4-dioxymethylene­phenyl)-hexa-2,4-dienoic acid (piperinic acid) with azinane (piperidine); pepper contains only the trans,trans isomer (piperine proper), although the trans,cis conformer (isochavicine) may show up due to photo­isomerization. The other two possible isomers, cis,cis (chavicine) and cis,trans (isopiperine) have been synthesized.

Several piperine-analogs have been isolated from black pepper where the acid carbon backbone is partially hydrogenated (piperanine) or two carbon atoms longer (piperettine); amides of piperinic acid with pyrrolidine (piperyline) or isobutyl­amine (piper­longumine) have also been isolated. Total content of piperine-analogs in black pepper is 5% or more, roughly the half of which is piperine proper.

The dark colour of black peppercorns arises only during the drying process. Fresh pepper contains colorless ortho-diphenol glycosides which get enzymatically oxidized by ortho-diphenol oxidase. The resulting chinoid oxidation products poly­merize and impart a dark brown to black color to the peppercorns.

Piper nigrum: Black pepper leaf and unripe fruits
Black pepper leaf and unripe fruits

© Liz Thomas

Origin

Black pepper is native to Malabar, a region in the Western Coast of South India; today, this region belongs to the union state Kerala. Pepper is cultivated since millennia. The wild form has not yet been unambiguously identified, but there are closely related pepper species in South India and Burma. While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention.

Pepper reached South East Asia more than two thousand years ago and is grown in Malaysia and Indonesia since about that time. In the last decades of the 20.th century, pepper production increased dramatically as new plantations were founded in Thailand, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka. In the New World, Brazil is the only important producer; pepper plantations there go back to the 1930s.

Piper nigrum: Pepper and tea garden
In South India, tea and pepper plants are often grown together
Piper nigrum: Pepper plant in South Indian plantation
Pepper plant climbing a support tree

The most impor­tant producers of black pepper used to be India and Indo­nesia. However, Viet­namese efforts to intro­duce pepper plan­tations to the country have proved very sucess­ful: Since about the turn of the mill­ennium, Vietnam is main pepper producing country in the world, ac­counting for about one third of all pepper (90000 tons). India now comes second with about 50000 tons, followed by Brazil and former Number Two, Indo­nesia, whose production went into sharp decline in the 2000s. Note, however, that pepper production, trade volume and price show strong fluctuations, making the pepper business a rather volatile and unpredictable market.

In trade, the pepper grades are identified by their origin. The most important Indian grades are Malabar and Tellicherry (Thalassery). The Malabar grade is regular black pepper with a slightly greenish hue, while Tellicherry is a special product (see below). Both Indian black peppers, but especially the Tellicherry grade, are very aromatic and pungent. In the past, Malabar pepper was also traded under names like Goa or Alleppey (the town is today named Alappuzha). The pepper trade center in India is in Kochi, still much known under its old name Cochin.

India’s main pepper product is black pepper. Yet the Malabar region also has a tradition for white pepper, and green pepper production has been introduced in the 1980s.

In South East Asia, the most reputed provenances for black pepper are Sarawak in insular Malaysia and Lampong from Sumatra/Indonesia. Both produce small-fruited black pepper that takes on a grayisch colour during storage; both have a less-developed aroma, but Lampong pepper is pretty hot. Sarawak pepper is mild and often described fruity. Black pepper from other countries where it has been introduced to more recently is named after the trade center (Bangkok, Saigon); these provenances are less valued, as they vary in heat and lack the complex aroma found in Indian and (to lesser degree) Malesian cultivars.

The most important source of white pepper is the small Indonesian island Bangka, south east of Sumatra. The peppercorns are named Muntok after the island’s main port. Smaller amounts of white pepper are produced in Sarawak, which is particularly light-coloured; the best quality is known as Sarawak Cream Label. There is also Brazil white pepper, but it has a poorer flavour and is, therefore, less reputated in the international trade.

Brazil produces black, white and green peppercorns; the pepper is grown along the Amazon river in the state of Pará, whence the paracress originates. Brazil almost held a monopoly for green pepper as the original production in Madagascar has declined, but the increasing Indian production has changed this picture. Brazil black and white pepper qualities are quite mild. All Brazil pepper is named after its main port, Belém.

Etymology

The name Pepper is derived from the Sanskrit name of long pepper, pippali [पिप्पलि, पिप्पली]. That word gave rise to Greek peperi [πέπερι] and Latin piper, which both became chiefly to mean black pepper instead of long pepper. See long pepper for details.

Piper nigrum: Black pepper leaves
Black pepper, sterile plants

From Latin piper, the names of pepper in almost all con­tem­porary Euro­pean lan­guages are derived, directly or in­directly. Ex­amples include, besides pepper (Old English pipor), Czech pepř, French poivre, German Pfeffer, Finnish pippuri, Ukrainian perets [перець] and Yiddish fefer [פֿעפֿער]. Of all European languages, only some Iberic names (Spanish pimienta, Portuguese pimenta, but not Catalan pebre which is piper-derived) have a different origin, which is discussed under allspice.

Greek has loaned the word piperi to several Afro-Asiatic languages of the Middle East: Thus we find pipros [ⲡⲓⲡⲣⲟⲥ] in Coptic, al-filfil [الفلفل] in Arabic, and in Hebrew pepper is called pilpel [פלפל, nowerdays often written with vowels as פילפיל]. Since it arrived comparatively late (end of 4.th century) in the Mediterranean region, pepper is not named in the Old Testament. Non-Semitic languages of Western Asia often have similar names for pepper, which were probably derived from Greek without Latin intermediate: Examples include Turkish biber, Kurdish bibari [بیباری], Georgian p’ilp’ili [პილპილი] and Armenian bghbegh [պղպեղ].

The names of several other spices have in turn be influenced by pepper. While paprika is an adaption from a Serbian word meaning pepper, others have names indicating that they are seen as similar to pepper or even as pepper variants. The following list includes names not only from English, but also from various European languages: peppermint, water pepper, chile (red pepper), savory (pepper herb), allspice (Jamaica pepper), chaste tree (monk’s pepper), cress (pepper grass), horseradish (pepper-root) and ginger (also pepper-root). In Chinese, many spices are named similarly as variants of the native Sichuan pepper.

Piper nigrum: Sterile black pepper plant
Sterile black pepper shoot

The most com­mon name of black pepper in Sans­krit lan­guage is maricha [मरिच or मरीच], which, as many flora-related terms, is a loan into Sanskrit deriving from an earlier local tongue, which the Vedic Aryans took up when entering the country. The original language is today suspected to belong to the Munda group, although the word has cognates with the original meaning preserved in some current Dravidian tongues, e. g., Tamil milagu [மிளகு] and Telugu miriyalu [మిరియాలు] pepper.

Ironically, maricha has not only left much less traces than pippali in non-Indic languages, but it has also changed its meaning in most modern descendants of the Sanskrit tongue (and in a few Dravidian languages, too): Words derived from marichan, e. g., Punjabi mirch [ਮਿਰਚ], Malayalam mulaku [മുളക്] or Dhivehi mirus [މިރުސް], have taken on the meaning chile almost throughout Exceptions to that rule are found in the Himalaya region: Nepali marich [मरिच] and Kashmiri marts [مرژ] both mean black pepper). In the Maithili language (at least in the variant spoken in Nepal), marich [मरिच] means pepper, and mirchai [मिरचाई] denotes chile.

Piper nigrum: Pepper infrutescence
Pepper berries

Those Indian tongues which changed the meaning of the old pepper word to chile may still retain the original meaning in combination with qualifying adjectives. Examples are provided by Hindi and Urdu names of black pepper, kali mirch [काली मिर्च, کالی مرچ] and gol mirch [गोल मिर्च, گول مرچ], which literally mean black chile and round chile, respectively. A rather absurd example is Malayalam vella-kurumulaku [വെള്ളകുരുമുളക്] white pepper, literally white blackchile. That pepper is named after chile in Indian languages is quite ironic as pepper is native to India, whereas chile has been introduced only 500 years ago.

Sanskrit marichan is also the source of modern Indonesian merica and Khmer marich [ម្រេច], which has conserved the original meaning pepper; supposedly, that word has been transferred to Southeast Asian languages at the same time when pepper became known in Malesia and the South East Asian peninsular due to Indian influence (about 1000 years ago).

Sanskrit is rich in synonyms and has many more names for black pepper, some of which derive from the adjective krishna [कृष्ण] black (see nigella). Yet another name is yavanapriya [यवनप्रिय] conserved in Modern Tamil as yavanappiriyam [யவனப்பிரிதம்]. The meaning of this compound is dear to the Greeks, hinting at the high commercial value of pepper. See ajwain for the first element in that name.

Chinese hu jiao [胡椒], which literally means wild pepper, is the source of Japanese koshō [胡椒, こしょう] and Korean huchu [후추]. See Sichuan pepper about the origin of the Chinese name.

Selected Links

Reisebericht von den Pfefferplantagen in Südindien Indian Spices: Pepper (indianetzone.com) Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Pfeffer (rezkonv.de via archive.org) Plant Cultures: Black Pepper A Pinch of Pepper (www.apinchof.com) The Epicentre: Pepper Medical Spice Exhibit: Black Pepper (via archive.org) (via archive.org) chemikalienlexikon.de: Linalool Transport Information Service: Pepper Spice Profile: Peppercorns (fiery-foods.com) Sorting Piper names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) The Economist: A Taste of Adventure Black Pepper: The King of Spices (globalprovince.com) Along the Peppertrail The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea History of long and black pepper (polyglotveg.blogspot.com) Pepper Product Information (spizes.com) Pfeffer für Feinschmecker (pfefferkontor.de) Dried Red Peppercorns (allkoshys.com) Product Profile Pepper (sica.gov.ec) (PDF) Recipe: Tik Marij (Cambodian Pepper Sauce) (1worldrecipes.com) Recipe: Panforte (Siena spiced fruit bread) (joyofbaking.com) Recipe: Panforte (Italian fruitcake) (recipegoldmine.com) Rezept bei goccus.com: Risotto alle fragole (Würziges Erdbeer-Risotto)


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History of Pepper

Piper nigrum: Charred peppercorns (Berenike)
Carbonized pepper from archeological excavations in Berenike (5. century)
Piper nigrum: Dehydrized peppercorns (Berenike)
Dehydratized pepper from archeological excavations in Berenike (5. century)
Piper nigrum: Pepper berries
Plant with ripening pepper berries
Black pepper, grown in Southern India since more than two thousand years, has always been much valued all over the world. After Alexander the Great had warred upon Central Asia, and indeed even reached India (4.th century BC), new trading routes were established that brought, for the very first time, pepper into the West. Within short time, pepper’s growing popularity made it a most important item of commerce. Soon, Arabic traders established a pepper monopoly and transferred the spice via the spice route through the Arab peninsular and Egypt to their European customers, whom they denied any knowledge about the actual origin of pepper.

In spite of its astronomical price, pepper has been much used by the Romans (see Silphion on Roman cuisine) and became, in the Early Middle Ages, a status symbol of fine cookery. At this time, the Italian town of Venezia had monopolized trade with the Arabs to the same extent as the Arabs theirs with the Indian producers. Due to this double monopoly, comparatively few cooks in Europe could afford pepper at all; but when Europe’s economical situation stabilized in the 15.th century, increasing demand for pepper led to the Age of Exploration. European sailors then tried to reach India and to obtain the spice directly from the producers, bypassing both the Arab and the Venetian monopolists.

At the end of the 15.th century, Portuguese seafarers changed the medieval view of the world: In 1487, Bartholomeu Diaz surrounded the Cape of Good Hope, thereby proving that Africa was not an impregnable obstacle on the Way to the East; only eleven years later, his countryman Vasco da Gama reached India, founded several Portuguese outposts and established permanent trade relations to local rulers. From this moment on, Lisboa, not Venezia, was the spice metropolis of Europe; of course, prices were not reduced but the profit just shifted to another country (100 years later, profits shifted again, this time to Amsterdam). Portugal’s colonies in South and Southeast Asia persisted until the second half of the 20.th century, even after the spice business had been lost to England and the Netherlands.

Piper nigrum: Pepper with unripe fruits
Pepper with unripe fruits

pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de

In the meantime, the Spaniards also tried their luck in seafaring: Cristoforo Colombo, an Italian who found support for his unconven­tional plans at the Spanish court, discovered what he had not searched for in 1492 and again eleven years later Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the American continent at the Isthmus of Panamá, thereby reaching the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, it was also a Spanish enterprise to explore this new ocean and thereby to circumvent the earth: Fernão de Magalhães, Portuguese by birth, is usually given credit for this task, although he himself did not survive the journey, but was slain in a conflict with natives of the Philippines. After all, Spanish success was poor in Asia (the Philippines remained the only Spanish colony in the East), and although the larger part of America quickly fell under Spanish dominion, Spain could never assume a significant rôle in the spice trade, allspice and vanilla being the only profitable spices from the New World.

Pepper production was long confined to a small region in India (Malabar, in the South of India’s West coast). Because of the expensive transport, but even more because of the effective monopoly first of Arabs and Venetians, then of the Portuguese and at last of the British, price remained rather high, and consumers in Europe were sometimes forced to use pepper substitutes. Of these, the Mediterranean chaste tree berries and the two African spices grains of paradise and negro pepper have lost all importance and are rarely traded at all in our days; similarly, the Mediterranean myrtle berries did not meet much approval. In Central Europe, the native water pepper has occasionally been used to substitute pepper in times of economic shortage, but it is not grown and produced any longer. As a side note on history, German cooks resorted to savory during the years of World War II, when import of tropical spices faded.

Piper nigrum: Pepper branche with flowers
Flowering pepper

In centuries past, long pepper, a close relative of black pepper from India, and cubeb pepper from Jawa, have been common in European cooking; today, they have fallen into oblivion in Western countries, but are still much in use in India and Northern Africa, respectively. Sichuan pepper from China and Japan and pink pepper from South America, although still not too common, have become more popular in the last decades in Western cookery; maybe, the same will happen to Tasmanian pepper.

Another pungent spice, chiles from Central and South America, was first introduced as a pepper substitute in European cuisine, but has now gained much popularity all over the world, because of its stronger pungency and easy growing. Today, chiles are the prototypical hot spice, and their production, usage and trade exceed those of real pepper. See also negro pepper for a comparison between several hot and pungent spices.


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Types of Peppercorns: Black, White, Green, Red

Piper nigrum: Pickled red and green pepper corns
Pickled red and green pepper corns
Piper nigrum: Dried peppercorn in four colours: white, black, green and red
White, black, green and red dried peppercorns (300 dpi scan)

Pepper is uni­que in the spice universe as the pepper fruits are marketed in four different versions: They can be processed to give black, white, green and red peppercorns. By choosing time of harvest and post­processing method carefully, all four types could, in principle, be produced from the same pepper plant.

Black pepper is the fruits of pepper harvested unripe but not far from ripeness, and dried at moder­ately elevated tempera­ture. A typical scheme is plucking the whole pepper spike in the moment when the very first berry starts turning red and storing the berries over night at room temperature; in some places, the berries are dipped into boiling water to provide a quick surface disinfection. Under these circumstances, fermentation takes place, and the formerly green pepper fruits turn black, similar to the fermentation of tea leaves. With the next day, the drying procedure starts, still often in direct sunlight without the help of electric dehydrators. Black pepper is produced in all pepper producing countries.

The later pepper is picked, the better its flavour will become; pungency, however, does not increase much in the last days of ripening. Waiting too long, however, is not an option, because ripe pepper fruits cannot be let fermented in the usual way, as their sugar content would allow for rotting. The latest moment to produce black pepper is when the fruits turn yellow–orange; pepper made from these almost ripe berries has a particularly good flavour. Such black pepper is produced only in India, and it is traded as Tellicherry pepper. Its corns are larger than typical black pepper corns, and their colour is not so much black than a dark and warm brown. They are slightly more expensive to compensate for the increased risk of loss to hungry birds or unfavourable weather.

Piper nigrum: Peppercorns drying on the roadside, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Peppercorns of varying ripeness are drying to yield black pepper

Fully ripened pepper fruits are used to make white pepper. For that purpose, the outer hull (exocarp, mesocarp) must be removed. Note that the mesocarp not only contains the sugar, but also a part of the volatile aroma compounds; the pungency is located in the endocarp only. The usual way of processing is soaking the berries for about one week, preferably in slow-running water. After that time, the mesocarp disintegrates and can be separated mechanically from the kernel (endocarp). The remainder, mainly the seed grain, is then dried and sold as white pepper. White pepper retains the full pungency of black pepper, but it has an altered flavour due to partial loss of aroma compounds. White pepper is significantly more expensive than black pepper, on one hand in compensation of the high risk to lose an entire harvest to changing weather, and on the other hand for the extra work involved.

Piper nigrum: Supported pepper vine
Pepper plant growing on a support tree

© Josh Weber

In Madagascar, another way of processing pepper was developed: Green pepper is early-harvested pepper, far from ripening, that is processed in a way to exclude fermen­tation. This is achieved by pickling the freshly harvested pepper corns in salt or vinegar, or by quick drying at elevated temperature or in a vacuum (lyophilization). Because of its unripeness, green pepper has only small pungency and a fresh, herbal, green flavour.

The same kind of pickling procedure can also be applied to ripe pepper fruits; in that case, their colour is retained, and one arrives at red pepper. This kind of pepper (red peppercorn) is a rather rare item; it is considerably more pungent and aromatic than green pepper, and it combines the spicy, mature flavour of black pepper with the fresh notes of green pepper. The natural sweetness of fresh red peppercorns is lost in the process of pickling, though.

Dried red peppercorns are even harder to find, and are to my knowledge, only produced by one single company in Kerala (Southern India). With respect to pungency and fragrance, they are similar to good black pepper, but they also feature a sugary sweet taste, which makes them unique in the pepper world. To produce them, the ripe peppercorns have to be harvested at the right time, and the drying procedure must be fast and suppress fermentation to preserve the colour. Another goal is to to prevent the separation of the outer hull from the kernel (which would give white pepper plus brown rubbish). Red pepper must not be confused with pink pepper, which stems from an entirely different plant and has little peppery quality; it is available both dried and (more rarely) pickled.

It is quite remarkable that, although four different colours of peppers are in existence, black pepper still dominates in production and consume. Red pepper has no importance whatsoever; it is mainly an exotic curiosity. Green pepper is used mostly in Western cooking, where it often goes into mustard (white mustard) or bottled condiments. It is the pepper to use for pepper steak and several sauces to accompany broiled or fried meats. Pickled green peppercorns are often used as a spicy garnish to cold foods. Dried green peppercorns are very aromatic, but at the same time have less pungency; this makes them useful for delicate dishes for which the heavy pungency of black pepper would be disastrous. For my feeling, they are sadly underrated among European cooks.

Piper nigrum: Pepper plantation
Pepper plantation

pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de

Piper nigrum: Unripe Pepper fruits
Unripe Pepper fruits and leaf

www.botany.hawaii.edu   © Gerald Carr

Fresh green pepper, which is not always easy to come by in Western countries, enjoys increasing popularity in pepper producing countries, particularly in Thailand. It is very good in Thai stir fries, and can be used in Thai curry pastes (see coconut). Pickled green peppercorns are too acidic to be used as substitute, but soaked dried green peppercorns can be used if the fresh are unavailable.

Also white pepper is mainly used in Western cooking. It is often suggested for white (cream-based) sauces where black pepper could spoil the colour; sauce Béchamel is a typical example (see nutmeg). It is also used whenever pungency takes predominance over pepper flavour; for example, ground white pepper is well suited to adjust a taste in the last moment, as it can give certain pungency without marked changes in aroma and fragrance; black pepper may be unsuited because of its intensive fragrance which reduces only after a prolonged cooking time.

An example of a traditional European dish that uses white pepper is gefilte fish [געפֿילטע פֿיש] stuffed fish, which is a specialty of the now almost extinct Yiddish cooking (Germany, Poland and Ukraine). The original recipe was complicated and reserved for festive occasions: Deboned fish meat (commonly carp), boiled onions and hard boiled eggs were ground to a smooth paste and seasoned with white pepper. The fish farce was then carefully stuffed back into the fish skins, and the re-filled fish boiled cautiosly in a flavourful broth made from fish bones, carrots and onion, often augmented with some herbs (parsley, celery). In our days, the recipe is usually simplified, and the fish farce is just shaped into balls and cooked in the broth. Gefilte fish is usually served cold, together with the gelatinized broth and sometimes a pungent paste made from red beets and horseradish.

Due to the price drops in the pepper trade of the late 20.th century, pepper has become available in several Far Eastern kitchens. While black pepper dominates the (still small) pepper market in South East Asia, the East Asian countries often have a preference for white pepper. Its only mildly aromatic pungency has become popular in Japan, where white pepper is often used as an alternative to the local variety of Sichuan pepper in marinades for meats. Chinese cooking does not use pepper much (except black peppercorns to flavour stocks), yet there is a handfull of recipes with a strong pepper flavour. An example of the latter type is hot and sour soup (suanla tang [酸辣湯]) (see sesame). For these pepper-accented dishes, white pepper is used if available.


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Culinary Usage of Black Pepper

Piper nigrum: Pepper inflorescence
Pepper flower

perso.wanadoo.fr

Black pepper is by far the most used type of pepper­corns. It is widely employed in almost all cuisines of the world. Since pepper cultivation has much increased lately and new plantations spread to remote locations, black pepper is continually introduced into cooking styles that did not use much pepper before, mainly for reasons of expense. For example, Thai cooking has not only developed a likening for fresh unripe pepper berries, but also uses black pepper to a larger extent that before when it was an expensive import commodity. Black pepper is particularly popular for comparatively mild stews as preferred in the cuisine of the Royal Thai Court.

Also the Vietnamese use now much more black pepper than a few decades ago, since Vietnamese pepper production is now well-established. It is added to long-simmered soups (see Vietnamese cinnamon for North Vietnamese and Vietnamese coriander for South Vietnamese soups) and appears quite often as a table condiment. In Cambodia, black pepper is part of the ubiquitous table condiment tik marij, a mixture of lime juice, salt and freshly ground pepper. Ironically, black pepper is little used in the cuisines of Malaysia and Indonesia, although these are the oldest production areas outside of India.

Piper nigrum: Black pepper vine in the hill area of Nepal (Himalaya)
Hard to believe: This pepper vine thrives in the Mahabharat mountains of Nepal!

In India, black pepper is widely used but plays no special rôle; it is just one more member of the large spice pan­theon, often used as a minor com­ponent of garam masala [गरम मसाला, گرم مسالحہ]; this also applies to the pepper pro­ducing areas of South India, and to the South Indian spice blend sambar podi [சாம்பார் பொடி] (see cumin and coriander, respectively). The Anglo–Indian curry powder may also contain ground pepper among its many ingredients (see curry leaves).

Strong pepper accents are, however, found in the regional cooking of the Raja­sthan state. There, generous amounts of black pepper­corns lend a special taste to long-simmered stews (korma [कोरमा]), particularily in the non-vegetarian Muslim cuisine. Rajasthani garam masala may be quite high in black pepper, which (together with the preference for black cardamom over green cardamom) gives is a somewhat unique character. Ground black pepper is also very often used as a spice for black tea, alone or in combination with other spices. This Rajasthani preference is somewhat unique, as spice tea (masala chai [मसाला चाय]) tends to be dominated by cardamom or ginger in the rest of India, pepper being at best a minor component of the spice mix employed; in winter, pepper use might increase as it is considered warming the body.

Rather than following the common Indian practice, Sri Lankan cooking quite often makes use of black pepper as a main spice, creating an interesting contrast to other foods which owe their heat to chiles. For examples, some vegetable curries are spiced with black pepper and no chile, and the same is true of the colonial-influenced vegetable-stuffed pastry generally known as rolls. Another example is the so-called egg hopper (bittara appa [බිත්තර ආප්ප]), a dome-shaped bread whose dough contains coconut milk; before cooking, it is topped with a raw egg and sprinkeld with coarse black pepper.

Black pepper can be used for nearly every kind of dish — some even like it for sweets! The combination of ripe strawberries and green pepper is almost a classic in European cooking (and a spicy strawberry risotto tastes as excellent as it sounds weird), but a pinch of pepper can well be used for other mild fruits, and results in a particularly exotic, special touch. Fruits salads are a good field to play with pepper; you need not go as far as the Indonesians, who prepare a chile-hot fruit salad called rujak (see mango). High-quality dark chocolate enhanced with a dash of black pepper has recently appeared on the European market, and I find this a very attractive combination. Peppered sweetmeats were pretty common in ancient Greece and Rome, at least for those who could afford (see also poppy); a few such recipes are still found in current European cuisines, e. g., Italian panforte or some variants of German Lebkuchen.

Piper nigrum: Pepper plants
Pepper plants, sterile

perso.wanadoo.fr

Piper nigrum: Coca-Cola bottle revamped as pepper box
Pepper sprinkler for power users – seen in Georgia

Pepper ap­pears in several well-known or not-so-well-known spice mixtures. In West Asia, it is used cautiously, as in some Turkish and Syrian spice blends. Georgian khmeli-suneli (see blue fenugreek) is mostly a mix of dried herbs, but also contais a few percent of pepper. On the other side, Georgians use pepper in masses as a table condiment, for example with the national favourite khinkali (khink’ali [ქინკალი]), a type of stuffed and steamed pasta that is often coated in nose-endangering amounts of ground pepper before eating.

The Arabs had monopolized pepper trade for millennia; it is not surprising, thus, that pepper is popular in Arab cooking and figures prominently in several Arabic spice mixtures. From the West of the Arab peninsular, from Yemen, comes zhoug, a fiery relish and condiment (see coriander); further East, at the coast of the Gulf, cooks use baharat (see paprika) to season rice, mutton and vegetables. Spice mixtures in Arabic tradition are found in Morocco (ras el hanout, see cubeb pepper), Tunisia (gâlat dagga, see grains of paradise) and Ethiopia (berbere, see long pepper). Mixtures called baharat are also common in the Eastern Mediterranean, although they rather resemble a reduced version of ras el hanout; in Palestine, a mixture simply called al-bahar [البهار] the spice contains little besides black pepper and allspice.

Black pepper has found friends in the New World, and subsequently entered traditional cooking styles in Latin America; see paprika for its usage in Mexican mole sauces. In the USA, pepper (particularly white pepper) is common in the Creole cuisine of New Orleans (see sassafras about New Orlean cooking styles in general and thyme about blackening).

Pepper is still popular in Europe and is a main constituent of the French creation quatre épices (see nutmeg). Alone or in combination with other spices, pepper is much loved all over the world for spicy meat stews, steaks, sauces and all kind of vegetable dishes. Pepper may be cooked for quite a long time without losing its flavour. Sauce béarnaise (see tarragon), a celebrated French invention, owes part of its spicy flavour to black peppercorns simmered in vinegar.

Pepper pungency goes well with sour flavours (see mango on acidity). In Europe and the USA, mixtures of coarsely ground black pepper with desiccated lemon juice are popular to flavour poultry and fish. This so-called lemon pepper must not be confused with exotic Indonesian lemon pepper, a variety of Sichuan pepper.

Personally, I generally prefer whole spices over pre-ground products in most cases — but few other spices (e. g., cardamom and some herbs) deteriorate that quickly as ground pepper. Both black and green pepper lose their aroma fully, and white pepper even acquires a moldy, earthy taste that can easily spoil a meal. Therefore, I strongly recommend a pepper mill to have always fresh and aromatic pepper at hand.



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