It looks like this is going to be the year of the peppercorn, and none too soon. I love pepper. Black, White, Green, Red... you name it. I always have several types on hand. Big, fat, Tellicherry black peppercorns, medium size Malabar peppercorns, a blend of Penzey's four color peppercorns, pickled green peppercorns, Sichuan Peppercorns... OK, now not all of these are technically pepper. The Sichuan peppercorns are actually from a prickly ash plant and the red peppercorns are a different type of pepper-like berry. But they all look and taste somewhat similar so for now we'll just lump them all together.

This year you are going to see more pepper used than in any year in recent times, and not just on the dinner table. Sweet will be mixed with savory, and pepper will be visiting the dessert cart. Expect upscale stores, and even your local market to have several types of peppercorns on display. Tellicherry peppercorns are the biggest and best 10% of the peppercorns on any plant, they grow at the top of the vines and are the pick of the litter so to speak, full of the intense oils and flavor. The next biggest and best in quality are called Malabar peppercorns from slightly lower on the plant. Forget about Brazil's generic black pepper that is the bulk of black table pepper. An almost tasteless version of the spice. Country and region of origin are what you should look for in peppercorns, like floral Sarawak from Borneo, Ecuador, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, mild but pungent Muntok White and the very strong Lampong black, both from Indonesia.

The keys to using great quality peppercorns are freshness, they should be less than one year old, and fresh grinding. Buy a few small and decent quality pepper grinders for the kitchen and table. I have several and each is stocked with a different type. First try some of each ground onto something mild like mashed potatoes, this way you can taste the different flavor characteristics. Is it Floral? Herbal? Spicy? Hot? Mild? Does it have a short or long finish on the tongue? Just like wines and spirits each will have their own unique taste and texture on your palate.

Then after you know what each type of pepper is like, you can experiment with which works best in various dishes. Soon you will find that having just white pepper and black pepper doesn't do the job, and you'll be discussing the merits of Sarawak Tellicherry's vs. Vietnamese Malabar's with your Slashfoodie friends over dinner. So go ahead and grind away folks, because it's the Year of the Peppercorn.