The different varieties of pepper

Pepper, you know it mainly for its spiciness, but what do you really know about this vine native to south-west India? 🤔 Quai Sud takes you to discover pepper or rather peppers, because there are many of them! From their little story to the origin of their color, through their flavor on the plate and their method of preservation, you will know almost everything about these little berries with a strong flavor.

Pepper, tastes and colors

The first pepper vines were discovered in southwestern India, on the Malabar coast. Nothing to do with the pink chewing gum of our childhood, but just like him, he's a Frenchman, Pepper Stone, which will bring it into our kitchens. This XNUMXth century missionary botanist^rd century will spread its culture in the French islands of the Indian Ocean to trade in it, because at that time, spices are a currency of exchange as precious as gold… 💰

The pepper plant is a tropical plant, a vine which is covered with white flowers in summer, then with clusters of fruit which will produce pepper. Their color varies according to their stage of maturity:

• Green pepper is harvested before maturity. Spicy just right and very fruity.
• Black pepper is picked just before maturity, fermented and then dried in the sun, hence its black colour. It's the most spicy 🥵
• red pepper is rare. It is delicately picked at full maturity and then dried. Spicy, intense and fruity at the same time, a whole program...🔥
• white pepper is a mixture of red and black berries from which the envelope has been removed after soaking in brine. It turns white as it dries. Deprived of its bark, it is the least powerful but the most subtle, the darling of French gastronomy.

Now that you know what all these "varieties" of pepper look like, let's get to the kitchen!

Which pepper for which dish?

Depending on their color, the peppers do not develop the same aromas or the same intensity, so they will not accompany the same dishes. With its very fresh and vegetal fragrance, green pepper is the ally of characterful meats, such as game or duck, as well as meat-based preparations (stuffings, terrines, pâtés). Once crushed, it becomes even more aromatic and works wonders in marinades or sauces, including the famous green pepper sauce.

Warm and powerful, black pepper lights the fire! 🔥 Its aromatic power goes perfectly with red meat and fatty fish (tuna, salmon). On the pastry side, its warm notes sublimate chocolate or red fruit-based desserts 🍰.

Exceptional peppers

Among the varieties of peppers, there are the smart ones, those who think they are better than the others... and they are right 😁. They make us travel to the tropics with unexpected flavors: sweet notes with aromas of cinnamon with the Java long pepper, citrus and resin flavors for Sarawak and Tellicherry peppers, almost smoky fruity notes with the Malabar pepper...

The rarest of all, Voatsiperifery wild pepper grows in the treetops of the primary forest of Madagascar. Harvested by hand, we can say that it deserves! It perfectly blends woody and earthy flavors, floral and citrus notes... Ideal with red meat, poultry or seafood, it is just magical with foie gras ✨.

And then there are also those who take themselves for peppers but who are not: Cubeb from Indonesia, Timut from Nepal, Madagascan pink berries, Szechuan pepper… They are aromatic berries with a more or less pungent flavor, but since they are not from the famous variety Piper Nigrum, these are not peppers. The most amazing? Tasmanian pepper. Spicy and fresh with its notes of blackberry and violet, it excels with an ostrich steak, fish, chocolate or fruity desserts, and it colors sauces mauve!

Whatever your favorite pepper, keep it away from heat and light. Prefer it in grains to keep its power and its aromas, because it loses its spiciness after 3 months if it is ground.

Discover all our peppers to make your taste buds travel in a few turns of the mill!