Pink "Peppercorns"
Corned beef has nothing to do with corn — at least, not the kind of corn we usually think of. Peppercorns don’t have anything to do with corn, either. And it turns out that pink peppercorns don’t have anything to do with corn OR pepper. How’s that for a “huh”?
A “corn” in old-time (or olde thyme) English parlance meant something small, bitty, and hard. Nowadays, we’d probably use the word “grain” to describe that kind of thing — for example, a grain of sand or a grain of salt. But back then, salt-brined beef wasn’t “grained,” it was “corned,” hence corned beef. Had we named peppercorns within the last hundred years, they probably would have been peppergrains. And now doesn’t the idea of having corns on your feet make more sense, too?
That explains the “corn” part. The fact that pink peppercorns also don’t have anything to do with pepper stems from the fact that while white, green, and black peppercorns are all stages of the same fruit from the same plant — in the same way that white, green, and black tea are all leaves from the camellia sinensis plant in various stages of oxidation — pink “peppercorns” are from an entirely different plant (commonly known as Brazilian Pepper, Rose Pepper, and/or Peruvian Pepper; the others are just called Black Pepper). If you look closely at each color peppercorn in a pepper mix, you’ll see that the white, green, and black ones look much more alike than do the pink ones. And if you taste them singly, you’ll discover that the pink peppercorn doesn’t taste very peppery at all — rather, it’s reminiscent of cinnamon and allspice. (One of my friends whom I had try various peppercorns said the pink ones tasted like candy.)
Despite the fact that pink peppercorns aren’t what their name implies, they’re my new favorite spice. And to think I’ve been overlooking them all this time! I now use pink peppercorns both by themselves and to create a custom proportion of mixed peppercorns. It’s easy enough to make your own blend — just pour in more of whichever color you like best. Many markets nowadays stock jars of all white peppercorns, all pink, all green, etc. Once in a while, I even crush the pink peppercorns with a mortar and pestle to maximize their fresh spiciness and beautiful color.
Try a pink peppercorn or two and judge for yourself!
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Tags: food lore, grains, peppercorns, pink peppercorns, seasonings
