It’s sometimes hard to imagine how much of history focused on obtaining things that today seem quite ordinary. Walk into any restaurant, and you’ll see black pepper on every table. For millennia, this would have been viewed as a stunning display of wealth. Today, it is expected. How did this happen?
It’s a bit of a long story.
A Brief History
The recorded history of black pepper (Piper nigrum) goes back further than that of any other spice. Indigenous to southern India, pepper was already being praised in Vedic medical writings 4,000 years ago. However, though it would remain valued as medicine everywhere it went, it was flavor that turned pepper into an economic giant. Not only does it taste good, but the chemical that creates its flavor and heat, piperine, increases the sensory input of the foods it flavors. In other words, it actually makes foods taste better.Pepper was on the move early, reaching Southeast Asia in prehistory and arriving in Egypt by at least 1450 B.C. It’s unknown exactly when it appeared in Greece, but written records show it existed by at least the fourth century B.C.
Not too surprisingly, it was then adopted in Rome, where its popularity exploded—even though the price was equivalent to around $500 a pound. Pepper was added to almost all Roman dishes, including dessert. It was so valuable, it was stockpiled in the treasury. But the spice’s fame spread, and when Alaric the Visigoth captured Rome in 408, the ransom he demanded included 3,000 pounds of black pepper.
By the Middle Ages, pepper was so valuable that it was used as currency. Rents and dowries could be paid in pepper. A serf in France could buy his freedom for a pound of black pepper. How much pepper one had established one’s wealth.
For most of the Middle Ages, Venice controlled the spice trade in Europe, with spices supplied by Arab merchants. Then, in 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, crippling trade from the East. Europe panicked. Among the plans hatched to solve the problem was Christopher Columbus’s 1492 effort to reach Asia by sailing west.
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Though Columbus failed to reach Asia, his voyage led to a new dynamic in the spice trade. In 1493, the Pope divided the entire planet between Spain and Portugal, the superpowers of the day. Vasco da Gama, exploring Portugal’s half of the Earth, sailed around Africa, reaching India in 1498. Before long, the Portuguese had commandeered the spice trade.
After the British defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, any European country with ships was able to pursue international trade and exploration. The Dutch sailed to India and took over the spice trade. The Dutch word peperduur—“as expensive as pepper”—makes it clear that this didn’t make the spice more affordable. Eager to take advantage of their monopoly, the Dutch increased the price of pepper. The British response was to form the East India Company in 1600 and go to India themselves.
As European settlements grew in North America, demand for pepper moved in, too. Salem, Massachusetts, became the new Venice. By the mid-1700s, ships bringing pepper, along with tea and other spices, from Asia had made Elias Haskett Derby of Salem the first American millionaire. Today, the value of black pepper imported into the United States exceeds $2 billion annually.
Where It’s Grown
Pepper is now grown in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, China, and Brazil. All varieties possess the virtues for which pepper is cherished, but it is generally agreed that Tellicherry and Malabar, both from Kerala, are the most flavorful black peppers.
Color Code
But what about white pepper and green pepper? Actually, they come from the same tall vines as black pepper. Picked just before being ripe, the peppercorns (as the fruit is known) turn dark when dried, giving us black pepper.Picked slightly riper and soaked to remove the dark outer layer, or pericarp, they become white pepper. This makes the pepper milder, but it also makes the pepper less visible when added to light-colored foods, such as cheese sauces. Muntok pepper from Indonesia is the most famous white pepper.
Green pepper is picked very immature, but it must be pickled, freeze-dried, or canned in brine to keep it green. It, too, is milder than black pepper.
Often, black, white, and green peppercorns are packaged with pink “peppercorns.” The pink option is pretty, with a mild, fruity flavor, but is completely unrelated to pepper. It comes from a South American tree in the sumac family. Several other things are called pepper—some cousins of Piper nigrum and some so unrelated that it appears that heat is the only thing they have in common—but only black, white, and green pepper are Piper nigrum.
Food as Medicine
Happily, it turns out that all those traditions that considered pepper to be medicinal were correct. Piperine is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It aids in everything from digestion to wound healing. In addition, pepper is a source of a surprising range of vitamins and minerals.
Tips for Using Pepper
In the kitchen, the debate revolves around whole pepper versus ground. Actually, it depends on what you need. Of course, freshly ground just before use offers the biggest taste. However, that is not always practical. The flavor begins to fade once pepper is ground, but you can use a bit more. Also, different peppers have different strengths. Pepper from Kerala will be stronger than pepper from Brazil.Use what appeals to you—as most recipes say, “add to taste.” (That said, if you’re seeking out the best pepper, you probably want to invest in a grinder and try it fresh.)
Pepper enhances any savory dish, and because it boosts flavor, it can reduce the need for salt if one is trying to cut back. Surprisingly, black pepper also works well in some sweet applications, especially if it is paired with ginger, clove, cardamom, or other Indian spices.
Pepper is still king. Despite the fact that so many other spices are now available, pepper still makes up more than one-quarter of the entire world’s spice trade. But today, it’s king because we have such easy access to it. We should be grateful for that transformation.
