Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Citation? Pepper spray. ;)
Pepper spray is used because it's really painful but isn't actually harmful.
Well too much of anything is harmful. If it isn't, it isn't "too much".
History of Pepper
51–60 of 63 posts
Re: History of Pepper
#52As an aside, if anyone is looking for an absolutely insane pepper mill, get the Männkitchen Pepper Cannon. You will never need another one. It's a big solid hunk of aluminum, stainless steel burrs, and puts out 5-10x the amount that other mills do per crank. Easier to adjust fineness of grind than any other mill out there. Evenness of grind is also superior. It has changed my entire life in the kitchen.
A similar pepper mill, made in the USA (not China) for a lower price: Unicorn Mills Magnum ($59) http://www.unicornmills.org/magnum-plus.html I have not tested either, though I have heard of the Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon and from what I know it is probably the best one you can get if you are not concerned with price. We are talking high-volume output, only one or two pumps needed per dish. Or as they say in the marke…
"Unfortunately, we are completely out of stock."
Mid-year at the earliest...
Re: History of Pepper
#53I’m always amazed by our ability to adopt and normalize once “exotic” spices, commodities etc and then pretend they were always a part of our culture so much so that we forget where they even came from. One of the UK’s most popular tea brands “Yorkshire Gold” evokes nostaligia for rural England when it really comes from Africa or India.
Potatoes were domesticated in the Andes and Ireland was very resistant to them at first. Bell peppers and chili peppers, tomatoes, chocolate, corn, and much much more was unknown to Afro-Eurasia until just a few generations ago. Over half the foods in most people's kitchens nowadays comes from other continents
Re: History of Pepper
#54Hoped it was this:
https://drpeppermuseum.com/history/
Oh well.
Re: History of Pepper
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, chilli grows far more easily than black pepper, and consequently is far more affordable, even today. Secondly, it takes far more black pepper by weight to induce any kind of burn. Thirdly, they taste very different. The widespread use of chilli as a spice in Indian cooking would also have an economic aspect to it, I'm sure. Fun fact: the one place (speaking for Southern India) where you're likely to find cookin…
The thing about chili peppers is that they're not healthy (have medicinal benefits) in the way peppercorn and long pepper do. Capsaicin can be harmful in large quantities, IIUC. There are South Indian foods and snacks like venpongal and methu vadai that use whole peppercorn, not chili peppers. Tomato is another colonialism byproduct, but there are still people who make versions that use lemons instead of tomatoes. A…
I don't subscribe to the opinion that all "imports" are bad, and that everything indigenous was miraculous and glorious. For goodness' sake, you probably typed your message on a Chinese-made device in a language that is not your mother tongue, as did I. That doesn't make us less of anything, does it?
Even the quintessentially southern Idli is rumoured to be a 12th century import brought down to the south by migrating Saurashtrians. (Mentioning this over other theories, since it seems to have the strongest documentary evidence). That isn't going to stop me enjoying my Idli with Sambar (which too is apparently a culinary import!).
By and large, cultural exchange makes the world a richer place. Are there unsavoury parts to human history? Yes. Even the Cholas (for example) conquered and colonized lands far away from where they were born, did they not?
Re: History of Pepper
#56Marjorie Shaffer wrote a whole book on the topic: "Pepper: A History of the World's Most Influential Spice" [1]
If you are interested in learning more about the history of the spice trade, it's well worth a read.
Re: History of Pepper
#57Re: History of Pepper
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha thanks, serves me right for skimming, I guess. I couldn't come up with any examples of foods preserved using black pepper obviously, but that might just be cultural filtering (I'm from northern Europe). Googling says "jams, pickles, preserves and candies" which was not very helpful.
JFYI in Italy (in the North) there are a number of ham-like products that are essentially "covered" in pepper, example: https://www.menatti.com/en/prodotto/peppered-prosciutto-crud... But usually most hams have the "cut" part covered in ground salt and black pepper anyway.
yup most aged dried or smoked meat products in this area use a mixture of salt, pepper, and various herbs to preserve the meat. prosciutto and bacon most notably.
Re: History of Pepper
#59Re: History of Pepper
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
A similar pepper mill, made in the USA (not China) for a lower price: Unicorn Mills Magnum ($59) http://www.unicornmills.org/magnum-plus.html I have not tested either, though I have heard of the Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon and from what I know it is probably the best one you can get if you are not concerned with price. We are talking high-volume output, only one or two pumps needed per dish. Or as they say in the marke…
I have one of those Peugeots, got it for my wedding, and thought I would love it. It's gorgeous, but sadly, it's just plain awful at doing what pepper mills are for: generating pepper. It's better as a forearm workout than as a grinder of pepper. Sad, but true. That Unicorn can't compete either, btw. Grind rate is much slower and it's made of plastic. Männkitchen's marketing sounds exaggerated...until you use the pro…
The unicorn may be slower than the cannon, but it is far faster and easier to use than every other pepper grinder I've had experience with, and it's much more affordable. Regarding the plastic exterior, it has endured across 2 continents for at least 8 years for me, so the plastic is not cheap.