WOW! GREEN peppercorn

[j biesinger]

check this out:

went to our local botanical gardens and they had a little section of spice plants that included, along with cinnamon and bay, a peppercorn plant. It had some berries on the plants, so not being able to resist, helped myself to a couple (hey...I wasn't the first. notice how many were missing).

I got to say, eating a green peppercorn right off a plant was pretty amazing. The heat from a mere quarter was enough to saturate your mouth. And the depth and complexity of the flavor was something not found in dried peppercorns.

I read some stuff about how these vines grow well in boggy soils and some gardeners manage to get the vines to fruit. Anybody have any experience trying to grow pepper? Anybody ever try to cook with these little a bombs?

 

[K Kruger]

They do not grow well in boggy soil. Wet conditions will kill them. They like moist soil rich in organic matter that doesn't ever get very dry. Don't feed. They need good drainage to disallow wet conditions. I grew pepper (and allspice) on Miami Beach.

I had one 'harvest' before I sold the house. I brined some, dried some (for black pepper) and cooked with some - iirc for a grilled dolphin dish with mango.

 

[j biesinger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">They do not grow well in boggy soil. Wet conditions will kill them. They like moist soil rich in organic matter that doesn't ever get very dry. Don't feed. They need good drainage to disallow wet conditions. I grew pepper (and allspice) on Miami Beach.

I had one 'harvest' before I sold the house. I brined some, dried some (for black pepper) and cooked with some - iirc for a grilled dolphin dish with mango. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


hmmm, it seemed like the stuff I read suggested that it liked wet soil. I'll take your word for it though.

I was intrigued by how quickly they shriveled and turned black, yet they're still crazy pungent.

I can imagine how much you would have to reduce the quantity when cooking with these. I bought a small amount of penzey's extra bold once and stopped using them because I just ended up over-peppering everything.