Black Peppercorn

Black Peppercorns are the whole dried berries of Piper nigrum, small, spherical and deeply wrinkled. Cracked fresh they are sharp and mildly hot with a floral, piney lift behind the heat, and that lift is the part that disappears within days of grinding, which is why the whole berry is worth keeping.

These are the whole peppercorns, for a mill or a mortar. Ameen sells black pepper already ground as a separate product for when a grinder is not to hand.

Black pepper is one of the most widely used spices in the world, and the aroma lives in the oils inside the berry, so whole peppercorns hold their pungency far longer than ground pepper. Use them in pepper steak, cacio e pepe, dry rubs, spice blends and pickling mixes, or crush them under a heavy pan for a coarse crack.

How to use them

Grind them over steak and roast meat, where pepper and salt work as a pair, and crack them coarsely into Indian curries, European soups and slow braises. Whole peppercorns go straight into a stock, a pickling brine or a pot of biryani rice. A little ground into sweet baking adds an unexpected warmth. Technique tip: toast the whole berries in a dry pan for a minute before grinding and the piney top notes sharpen considerably.

Details

Also known as

Black Peppercorn, Peppercorn, Common Pepper, Pepper, Madagascar Pepper, Whole Black Pepper, Kali Mirch, Piper nigrum