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When I went to Indonesia in the summer of 2001, my mom's best friend Maria requested that I bring her back some white peppercorns. Towards the end of my five weeks there, I hit a grocery store in order to do a little gift-buying (because who doesn't like to receive gifts of random foodstuffs from other countries? It's always my favorite thing to receive). I got several bags of white peppercorns, some for Maria and then some so that I could play around with them as well.
When I returned, I discovered that I didn't really like the taste of white peppercorns. They had a woodiness that I didn't enjoy and since I've never minded sullying light colored sauces and soups with flecks of black pepper, I've just sort ignored the existence of white peppercorns and gone on my merry way. However, I discovered last week, as I trawled the vast expanse of food writing available to me on the internet that white peppercorns are just black ones that have been soaked and had their outer hull removed. They do get a bit fermented in the process of being stripped of their black outsides, which may lend the taste that I found so unappealing.
Do you have a pepper-color preference? And while we're at it, what's your favorite grind? I tend to go for a coarser grind, but I keep several pepper mills around at all times, set to different grinds, so that I always have plenty of options.
[via Chicago Sun-Times]
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10-29-2007 @4:53PM wynk said... I generally like to use a mix. White pepper by itself is kind of harsh but it blends in really well with white sauces.
Also my pepper grinder allows you to adjust the coarseness of the grind...you just tighten a little ball on top.
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10-29-2007 @5:51PM Bob Sassone said... I actually like white pepper. I don't use it that often, but I remember that it was really good in the chicken salad I used to make at a restaurant I worked in years ago, with celery and grapes too.
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10-29-2007 @5:19PM Unika said... I have a sort of "confetti" pepper grinder, and I discovered that I can't stand red or green peppercorns! I prefer course grind as well!
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10-29-2007 @6:44PM NM said... I can't stand white pepper. It reminds me of a pig farm I used to infrequently visit as a child. Ugh.
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10-29-2007 @6:56PM Marisa McClellan said... Wynk, I can adjust a few of my grinders, but I am slightly insane and like to set them fairly precisely at different grinds and then not mess with them.
Bob, I probably would have liked that salad, white pepper or no. I'm a big fan of chicken salad with grapes and celery. There's something about the sweetness and the crunch.
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10-29-2007 @7:26PM Faxx said... I thought I was the only one. The smell of white pepper reminds me of horse manure. Not appealing to say the least.
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10-30-2007 @12:46AM UnCladChef said... I really dislike the taste of white pepper so much I go as far to say that I would never use it. The one situation I would use it would be when cooking a white fish, as to not leave black specs on it. Other than that black specks are worth the flavor. Also I like to use the Madagascar peppercorns, which have a sweet flavor and variety of colors.
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10-30-2007 @12:51AM Hungry culinary student said... I Use a blend, it has black, green, white, pink and green peppercorns, but when school has them in or I can get my chef to buy them from chef source (our spice purveyor) I make sure a few szechuan make it into the mix. I prefer my pepper cracked unless I am making a sauce. Also, I almost always use fine grind white pepper for sauce making... must be the culinary school coming out in my work....
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10-30-2007 @4:42AM blindslug said... my chef ALWAYS used white pepper, and its good to use them both in some applications, since they affect different parts of the mouth.
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10-30-2007 @10:33AM Brandon said... I love pepper, but I mostly use coarse ground black pepper with a other kinds reserved for special dishes. I use a lot of white pepper (by volume) in sausages and in dry rubs. I don't care much if my sauces or salads have black flecks in them since the seasoning is part of the dish and I'm not trying to hide it.
I've never really noticed the bad smells of white pepper a lot of you are mentioning... Could this be because of a specific method of processing or specific strain of peppercorn I have never used?
I thought I'd also point out that black and white peppercorns are from the same plant, as was stated in the post. Green peppercorns are also from the same plant, they are just the peppercorns picked green. As for pink and szechuan peppercorns, they are completely different plants and not peppercorns at all. Doesn't mean the don't add a good flavor to the mix though...
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10-30-2007 @5:32PM totoro said... Weird. I thought I was the only one who didn't like the smell or taste of white pepper, even though other people told me it was basically the same as black pepper except the color, and I was imagining things :p
It always reminds me of poorly made overseasoned cheap chinese food (bad spring rolls to be specific).
And Unika (above), someone gave me one of those multi-color confetti pepper grinders! can't stand it :p
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11-01-2007 @4:22AM phillyUKgirl said... How funny - I remember ordering white pepper from Penzeys years ago. I was horrified when I opened it - I rang them and complained that it smelled of sheep. She said, 'Ah, but you've never had really good white pepper before--it's meant to smell that way'! To be honest, I really like that raunchy smell now - if Penzeys rates it, I'm impressionable enough to go with it! Especially on eggs - here in the UK they have white pepper in the shakers on the tables in breakfast cafes. It just works.
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11-03-2007 @1:02PM MJ said... White pepper is good for sauces or light dishes that you want to look pretty. My all favorite on just about everything is freshly course ground black pepper!
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