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Home > Sangre Celestial > The peppercorn tutorial you didn't know you needed
Podcast: Sangre Celestial
Episode:

The peppercorn tutorial you didn't know you needed
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-09-05 19:00:00
Description: At a recent dinner, Evan Kleiman was blown away by a black pepper she had never before tried. It was so astonishingly flavorful, she asked the chef if she could take some home. Since discovering the Uziza pepper, also known as Piper guineense , she has been wondering what other peppers she might be missing. Lior Lev Sercarz , the proprietor of La Boîte Spices in New York City, provides a peppercorn tutorial. Lior Lev Sercarz explains the different varieties of peppercorns. Photo courtesy of La Boîte. How do peppercorns grow? They're vines that often wrap themselves around trees. Do green, red and white peppercorns come from the same plant? Yes, they do, they're just harvested at different stages. But the pink peppercorn "actually has nothing to do with the peppercorn family," Lior says. How do green, red, and white peppercorns taste different from each other? The green ones are "slightly piney, a little bit herbaceous, maybe some minty notes," Lior says. Black peppercorns are more savory and complex, sometimes with citrus notes. White peppercorns have "a bit more of a fermented note," he explains, because they are soaked in water. Do peppercorns have a terroir i.e. a different flavor depending on where they're grown? Absolutely. Brown Sugar Banana Bread Makes one 9x5 inch loaf Ingredients For the spice blend 1 teaspoon green cardamom pods (2 grams) 1/4 teaspoon Muntok white peppercorns (1 gram) 1 1/4 teaspoons poppy seeds (5 grams) 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, preferably Vietnamese (2 grams) Finely grind the cardamom and peppercorns together and immediately mix with the whole poppy seeds and cinnamon. For the banana bread 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) salted butter (114 grams), softened, plus more for the pan 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (168 grams) 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (7 grams) 1 cup packed light brown sugar (200 grams) 1 cup mashed overripe bananas (from 2 large or 3 medium bananas; 235 grams) 2 large eggs (100 grams), at room temperature 1/3 cup labne or plain whole milk Greek yogurt (80 grams) 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (3 grams) Instructions To make the bread: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and spice mix in a small bowl. Beat 1/2 cup butter (114 grams) and the brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed just until well combined and then raise the speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add the bananas, eggs, labne, and vanilla. Beat on medium-low speed until thoroughly mixed. It’s okay if the mixture looks broken. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. With the machine running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Beat just until the flour is incorporated, scraping the bowl as needed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then turn it out, discard the parchment, and cool completely on the rack. Recipe from Mastering Spice by Lior Lev Sercarz. All rights reserved.
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