I just obtained these two varieties of black peppercorns. The one on the left is described as having the “aroma of pepper, pine, and lemons” with “cooling menthol feeling offset by peppery heat and a bright citrus-like sweetness”. The one on the right is described as having “a sweet taste in the first second only, followed by intensive pungency which does not last, but gives way to a strange sensation of numbness”.
After tasting them both, I decided on a blend of two parts Comet’s Tail to one part Tasmanian. The balance between the two is really nice. It is mind-blowing how much richer and more complex the aromas and flavors are than regular black pepper from the spice shelf at your supermarket.
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Seymour Brighton
August 26, 2011 at 1:05 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
That’s really great. I’m so happy for you. Glad I visited. Time for some KFC chips with chicken salt. Done.
Nicoleandmaggie
August 26, 2011 at 1:43 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
We’re running low ourselves and will need to hit up pepper passion one of these days if we don’t make do with Penzeys.
physioprof
August 26, 2011 at 1:45 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Try my blende! It’ll blow your fucken minde!
somemadchef
August 26, 2011 at 1:55 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
A scientist who cooks for a hobby and a chef who follows science for a hobby because being stuck in a kitchen cooking countless plates of the same shit is soul destroying… this is going to be fucking good.
physioprof
August 26, 2011 at 1:59 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
somemadchef: I am always looking for cooking ideas. My style is very conceptual and improvisational: I read recipes for general concepts, and then improvise when I actually cook. So feel free to chime in!!
skeptifem
August 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I hate wanky bullshit descriptions about “notes” and “pine aroma”. I bet what it really tastes like is PEPPER, and that without the fancy bottles and flowery descriptions it would be pretty hard to figure out that it is supposed to taste like something besides pepper.
physioprof
August 26, 2011 at 2:50 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I generally hate thatte shitte, too. In this case, however, those descriptions are reasonably evocative of the two peppers. Regardless, they definitely have aromas and flavors that are quite different from each other, and *vastly* different from your basic McCormick’s black pepper. If I gave you a blind smell/taste test, you would have no trouble at all distinguishing the blend I concocted from ordinary black pepper.
Charles Sullivan
August 26, 2011 at 4:12 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Standard black pepper is Piper nigrum.
The jar on the left is Piper cubeba (known as Java pepper). Both of these are different species, but in the same genus.
The jar on the right (Tasmannia lanceolata) is really something else entirely. Not only is it not the same genus as Black and Java peppers, it’s not even in the same family or order.
Nicoleandmaggie
August 26, 2011 at 5:28 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Who is your supplier?
Different peppers are definitely different! My favorite local Korean place makes the BEST fried rice… it’s an incredibly simple dish, just eggs, salt, pepper, and veggies, but they coat each grain of rice perfectly without clumping and the white pepper they use is out of this world.
Chebag
August 27, 2011 at 12:40 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Internet foodie douchaloons who “evoke” bullshitte lemony oak tannin choadchompery over pepper make me want to nailgun their typing hand to their endangered jaguar buttered renewable resource fairtrade hardwood cutting board
skeptifem
August 27, 2011 at 11:03 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Well shit, chebang said what I was trying to much more artfully. wtg, internetian.
somemadchef
August 27, 2011 at 12:53 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
physioprof: Thats the only way to cook you got to keep experimenting and trying new shit out. The key to success is like everything else, once you got the basics down the rest just follows . Fuck fine dinning with all the fiddly shit I do for a living because nothing beats a rare steak with french fries washed down with a bottle of cold beer.