This year we decided to process our pepper into white pepper.  Usually, we just pick them green…

And as they dry out in the sun, they become black peppercorns.

Because I mostly cook Chinese food, white pepper is actually more useful for me from a culinary point of view.  The preparation of white pepper requires a bit more work.  This is what you do:  Pick the peppercorns when they start turning red:

Then place these peppercorns in water to let them all ferment.  After a while, the water will get bubbly and murky.  Each day, dip your hands in the water and rub the peppercorns with the palms of your hand.  This “retting” procedure loosens the outer shell to release the white peppercorn.  Do this for 7 days…you can throw away the outer shells each day but leave the white peppercorns to ferment and do their magic.  It all gets rather smelly but hey, I think it is really important to understand the value of doing things yourself.  Now I know why ground white pepper costs $30 Belize Dollars per pound and I will no longer complain about the price!

On the 7th day, drain off all the water:

Separate the white peppercorns:

You will find that the peppercorns are at different stages.  Remove the white peppercorns and let them dry out in the sun.  The rest of the pepper (which still has the outer hard shell) can be placed back in a clean bowl of water.  At this stage, you can add newly harvested pepper to repeat the 7 day process of fermentation again.

So there you go.  You will find that when you consciously spend the time and energy in processing your own food, it becomes a matter of necessity.  It isn’t about economics anymore…it’s about eating good food that money can’t buy.

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