[Sca-cooks] Black pepper, was period recipes for holiday gifts

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
>Anahita commented:
>  > I have trouble with coarsely ground black pepper (something in the
>  > skin), although finely ground works fine, so i use the very fine.
>
>I assume you are saying the problem is something in the skin of the
>pepper pod and not your skin?

Well, it definitely isn't an allergy, but i don't know how to explain 
it other than to say that if there are moderately large pieces of 
black pepper in something, they seem to catch in the back of my 
throat and make my throat close a little. When i can dislodge it 
(making cat with a hairball sound), i'm ok. It doesn't matter if the 
pepper is loose or stirred into a salad dressing. And it isn't as if 
every single bit does this. Sometimes i can get through a dish with 
visible pepper with no trouble. It's not the flavor that bothers me.

>White pepper has the skin removed, right?

Yes, it's the same little peppercorn with the skin rubbed off.

>  Would using white pepper instead of black pepper help?

Indeed, i have no trouble with white pepper.

My mom had discovered freshly ground black pepper in the 1960s and 
was grinding it into food, which was unpleasant for me. I graduated 
high school in 1967 and i just avoided pepper. It was a revelation - 
and a relief - when i "discovered" white pepper in the mid-1970s. And 
really nice when a few years ago i discovered the extra-fine black 
pepper at Lhasa Karnak. The skin adds a layer of flavor that white 
pepper lacks.

>I wonder how the
>fineness of the grinding would make a difference.

I guess it's 'cuz whatever bothers me is in the skin and only has 
that effect if the pieces of skin are large enough to "stick" or 
something. If it's finely ground, i don't have this problem. I got 
some black pepper as finely ground as cinnamon or ginger powder and 
it worked for me, although black pepper purists might look down on it.

Anahita
Finding ways to make pepper work since, nineteen-seventy-uh, hmm-mmm, 
oh, just say 74.