Black pepper: like or dislike?
It takes a lot to drive me to kitchen panic, so please appreciate when I tell you that I RAN OUT OF BLACK PEPPER a few weeks ago, and panic ensued. I was sure I had a bag stashed in the freezer, as I always do, but the move to a smaller pantry, followed by a couple of months away from cooking, threw me off. I can cook without salt, without thyme, without cheese, even without olive oil, but I cannot cook without black pepper. I used to be very particular about fresh-ground pepper, as in only a pepper grinder in the kitchen would do, but now I rely on Penzeys coarse ground pepper, which is spicy and lively. Is black pepper essential in your kitchen?
Black pepper: like or dislike?
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yes, i totally understand pepper panic...have had those episodes myself and.....wait.....you can cook without thyme--how do you manage that one? ;0) ….i also often cook without salt, but pepper has to be in the equation....i like my pepper mill because i can adjust to either coarse or fine without having several jars crowding my limited cabinet space....i prefer tellicherry, they have such a “zing & zip” to them and it doesn't take much, but don't always remember to order them in time so i keep a jar of peppercorn melange (black, pink, white, green) around, which i really like as well; doing that nixes any pepper panics ;0)
Pepper is essential to everything I cook! I love it coarse, fine, any color, any blend.
I love black pepper and add it to pretty much every savory dish! I have several pepper grinders and also use the same pepper from Penzeys that you have!
Only the good tellicherry, which I learned about when you hosted a pepper tasting!
I need black pepper! I once used them too much and my husband complained. Ever since then, I'm trying not to over do it.
Another big yes to black pepper. We keep (at least) to active grinders. One has the 'rainbow' mix, the other my own mix of 2 parts black peppercorns to 1 part mixed pickling spice (includes chiles, needs some pre-crushing). Even in a dish with chiles, the black peppers bring out the tastes. For bland foods = especially eggs, fried matzo, kasha (with or without noodles) - the natural flavors wake up with black pepper just at the edge of excess.
I need a source for tellicherry. Visiting on Florida-- should try to get some. Need to carry a disposable pepper grinder in my purse when go to a restaurant; used to keep one in car, but never had the nerve to take in to eatery. When a restaurant does have grinders on table, I compliment them of course. When the waiter has to do the milling with the big impressive grinder, they get impatient with me. I adore pepper; I really adore tellicherry!
Funny how these black/gray flecks of wonder are needed on/in almost everything. Then there's the peppercorns for soups or squash-onion boil...without them the dish takes on a rather bland, ho-hum taste. Yes pepper is always on hand. Shoot, I put it on cottage cheese....
Who could eat cottage cheese without freshly cracked tellicherry? Just the thought sends shivers down my spine ... how uncivilized !
My spouse is very sensitive to bitter & heat and she often refuses to eat things that (to me) are seasoned perfectly. So now I season less during cooking ... then she adds salt after cooking ... and I add freshly cracked tellicherry.
Do we have defective taste buds? Or is this common to people who grew up on opposite coasts? (she's a native Vermonter, I'm a native northern Californian)
I use it very often as I never use salt. (health issue)
Gotta have black pepper! Freshly ground is best.
Shirley
I love a fresh grind of pepper on strawberries, too! (and melon...) I like having several types around and have two pepper grinders going. What would our favorite dishes be without it?
A staple in our kitchen--nothing like fresh ground pepper --
gordon
I like pepper and always have it, but I could manage without it. Salt? Impossible.
In my home Penzeys course ground tellicherry is called "magic pepper"... we all love it!
Love pepper, grind my own. I was wondering where I can purchase the Goya discos. I can't seem to find them anywhere here in Modesto Ca.
I was told years ago that the body can not digest black pepper. So it collects, in the gallbladder. I thought how silly is that idea. But as I thought about it, I noticed that a number of people friends and family were heavy users...they ended up with gall stones and having surgeries. (Back then, the surgery was major deal and I took care of many patients that had emergency surgery in the late afternoon or evening. They had to be hooked up to an NG tube and have fluids removed afterwards.) When I considered that there would be a good chance of developing them, I stopped! Instead I use cayenne pepper. It has benefits for arthritis and high blood presser and it spices up my food...especially spaghetti. Yummm
Love black pepper. Use it daily in the kitchen and always have extra on hand. Running out is not an option.
Love black pepper.