Tag Archives: Piper nigrum

Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Philosophy, Plants

Processing White Peppercorns.

Munchkin.Feeling.Rightous

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

Harvested Green Peppercorn.
Harvested Green Peppercorn.

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

Black Pepper.
Black Pepper.

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:

Picked Peppercorn.
Picked Peppercorn.

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:

Processing White Pepper.
Processing White Pepper.

Separate the white peppercorns:

Sorting White Pepper.
Sorting White Pepper.

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.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Black Pepper Galore!

Munchkin.Another.LookThis year, our black pepper plants started bearing well.  The last few years, we have just had a few minor fruits but not much to speak of.

Harvested Green Peppercorn.
Harvested Green Peppercorn.

The picture above shows picked peppercorns from two plants only.  The green drupes started in September and I had actually been watching them all this time waiting for them to mature to red peppercorns.  At that stage, white pepper can be made through a process of retting and fermentation.  But, alas I have grown impatient and decided to have black peppercorns this year.  So, for the last few days, the pepper has been spread out to dry in the sun.  It took 3 days for the pepper to dry completely to its black state.  I managed to get two quart jars of dried black peppercorns…not bad from just two plants.

Dried Black Pepper in Jar.

Just out of interest, to keep the green colour of the pepper they have to go through a preservation process (using sulphur dioxide like in dried fruit) before drying.  Similarly, to get red peppercorns, preservation of colour with a chemical is used before drying.

Our black pepper plants were grown from cuttings about 2 to 3 years ago. This perennial woody vine prefers shade and so we planted ours next to coconut trees so that the vine would grow up the trunks.  This was a great combination because the fallen coconut leaves produced humus and leaf litter which set up perfect growing conditions for the pepper. Piper nigrum are known to produce fruit for up to 7 years after the first flowering.  I found some pepper seedlings in the leaf litter and I have potted these so that we never have to buy black pepper again!

Black Pepper Seedlings.
Black Pepper Seedlings.