[Sca-cooks] peppercorns and black salt

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> As mentioned in another message, while at one of my local Mediterranean
> stores today, I bought some bottles of peppercorns.
> 1) Pink peppercorns in water, vinegar and salt
> 2) Green peppercorns in brine (water and salt)
>
> I've always gotten the whole dried peppercorns before or the ground ones,
> how would I use these pickled/brined ones? Are there particular dishes
> where these would be better used than the dried ones?

They're good, whole, in sauces, because they don't shatter your molars
and are milder than black or white peppercorns. The pink ones are nice
to garnish things like salads, while classic applications for green ones
include a poivre vert sauce for sauteed steak (yes, all you folk out
there in barbecue-land, sauteed steak is _good_). Essentially you cook
your steaks, drain off most of the fat, if applicable, add your
peppercorns and heat quickly, then deglaze the pan with  a brown sauce
or demiglaze (just on the off-chance you're one of those people that
keeps a supply of demiglaze on hand), or even heavy cream. Slosh a
half-cup or so into your pan and heat, stirring until the cream
dissolves the hard cooked bits of meat juice left in the pan and
thickens slightly.

> When would you use green peppercorns instead of the black or white
> ones? When would you want to use the pink ones? The pink ones are
> a different plant that the ones that the green, black and white
> ones come from. Were the pink peppercorns known in period Europe?

I remember reading that a slightly higher proportion of people are
allergic to pink peppercorns, in comparison to the others.

> Were brined/pickled peppercorns available/used in period Europe?

If yes, I assume they were rare, given the comparative difficulty of
shipping heavy jars of brine from the Far East, as opposed to sacks or
boxes of dry spices. I suspect it would be considered fiscally ineffective.
  Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98