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Spices, Tastebuds, Tastecelebration
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Pepper is hot!

When talking about tastebuds, pepper is not to be forgotten.
So many peppers in the world: green, black, white. Pink pepper. Spanish (pimento) and cayenne pepper. Sichuan pepper. Even wild pepper… Plus a number of more.
The world is to be explored when it comes to pepper! Some hot and some smokey. Some of them almost ingratiating. With their own personality and handbook.
How many of them do you have in your cupboard? I’m afraid I have them all, my husband always complaints about how difficult it is to close the doors. Can’t really understand the complaint, not everyone can count themselves as rich as my crammed cabinet :0)

Did you know that the pink pepper is not related to the “real” pepper but related to the cashew? That also mean that if you are allergic to cashew nuts , pistachio and mango, you should also be careful with this beauty. The mild taste works with white meat such as chicken, veal, fish and even in desserts. I tend to use it on everything to be honest.

Every dish has its own needs for pepper
In Sweden you often taste the pimento (kryddpeppar) together with pickled herring and heavy traditional meat dishes such as kalops. Let’s see what we can do about some recipes for that in future here.
Nothing light up a dark autumn evening as a warm soup made of chestnut or celeriac, with a small dust of cayenne. Hot and beautiful!

Did you try the Sichuan or the so-called Chinese coriander yet?
A fantastic spice that totally is not a pepper actually. The spice is related to the citrus family, something you easily can recognize when eating dishes cooked with it. The taste is unique with its lemon overtones, it creates a tingle numbness in the mouth when eating it. The small flaky corn works perfect with pork, beef, garlic, ginger… Oh, I have to cook something soon with this!

The tools
When cooking with pepper, as always with al cooking, see that you have the correct tools for the best taste.
The best you can do, is to use a mortar and pestle and grind only as much as you need for the specific moment. If you have trouble with noise sensitive neighbors you might however want to considerate this on certain moments of the day. But hey, for a good cause right?

Another option would be to find the best pepper grinder there is to buy. When found, put your name tag on it and cherish for the rest of your life. If you find two of them, buy them and use one for grinding another fantastic spice, the cardamom. More about that soon.

There is so much more to be told about pepper but for now, i stop my celebration to the heat.

What is your best tip to give the pepper the lead role in a dish? After all, taste is sharing and experiencing together!

Filed under: Spices, Tastebuds, Tastecelebration

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Sharing the passion for food!

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