23rd April: Peppercorn Day

Today is Peppercorn Day. The peppercorn is the fruit of the pepper plant. Here are 10 things you might not know about pepper.

1. Black pepper, Green pepper and White pepper all come from the same plant, Piper nigrum. The difference lies in how the fruit is ripened and processed. Black pepper is made from the whole fruit, cooked and then dried. White pepper is made from the seed only and green pepper from unripe fruit.
2. The pepper plant is a perennial flowering vine native to south Asia. Vietnam, Indonesia and India are the largest producers. The biggest consumer, buying up 18% of the world's pepper, is the USA.
3. The Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II had peppercorns stuffed up his nose as part of the mummification process.
4. Pepper was once so valuable in Europe that it was used as Money. Hence we get the term “peppercorn rent” although today it means you're getting the place for next to nothing. It was a luxury item that only the rich could afford. It was worth more than Silver in weight. It was one of the reasons that Vasco da Gama set out to find a route to India by sea in an attempt to gain some of the control of the spice trade from Italy.
5. The chemical compound that makes pepper pungent is called piperine. This chemical was discovered and isolated from the plant by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1819, and makes up between 4.6 and 9.7% of black pepper.
6. It isn't known why pepper makes people sneeze. One theory is that it's the piperine that irritates the nostrils.
7. Pepper was used as a folk remedy as well as a seasoning. It was used to treat constipation, insomnia, abscesses, toothaches and even eye problems. The latter would be treated by applying a salve made from pepper directly to the eye, which was not only ineffective but probably more painful than the original problem. It was one of the few medicines a Buddhist monk was allowed to carry.
8. Today, about 20% of the world's spice trade is accounted for by pepper.
9. Pepper contains vitamin K, manganese, Copper, Iron and calcium.
10. Pepper needs to be stored in an airtight container and out of the light as both light and evaporation makes it lose flavour. The best way to use it is by grinding the whole peppercorns directly onto the food. They knew this in the Middle Ages – pepper mills were found in kitchens as early as the 14^th century. Before that, people would use a pestle and mortar to grind it up.

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