Las Vegas has its pick of pepper

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 8:29 a.m.

With the exception of perhaps water and salt, no ingredient is as prevalent in the world's cooking as pepper.

Indeed, the entire history of the West can be traced to this pungent spice, which is native to the Malabar Coast of India and Sri Lanka. Columbus was looking for the Spice Islands, and pepper in particular, when he discovered the New World.

Pepper, be it black, green or white, is the Piper Nigrum plant, a vine that belongs to the Piperaceae family of plants. Piper is Latin for plant, Nigrum is Latin for black. This plant is not to be confused with the pink peppercorn, which belongs to a different biological family.

Pink peppercorns, which come from the island republic of Malagasy in the Indian Ocean, are expensive, exotic and delicious. They are also rather sweet, and not nearly as punchy as other peppercorns.

Technically, the pink peppercorn is related to the cashew, and therefore not really a pepper at all, despite the pungency and pepper-like qualities on the palate. The island Reunion, also in the Indian Ocean, exports most of the world's supply today, and you are most likely to find them in fancy pepper mixtures that you buy in upscale food shops.

The differences between black, green and white pepper, and peppercorns of those colors, is really not complicated. They are really berries that grow on little spikes, with 50-60 berries per spike. The strongest in flavor are the black peppercorns, which are full sized and picked before ripeness. They get their black color from being sun dried. Enzymes in the berries, combined with the rays of the sun, causes the skin to turn black.

White peppercorns are the mature berries which turn red before picking. After having been harvested, they are soaked and rubbed, until the skin comes off, revealing a white inner layer. They are dried and bleached in the sun and the result is a peppercorn that is not quite as pungent as a black pepper.

Finally green peppercorns, which many top chefs favor and which make a wonderful sauce for red meat, are simply the unripe version of black peppercorns. They are picked while still green, and the color is preserved by pickling them in a brine of vinegar. These are the mildest peppercorns of all, and they are often sold freeze-dried or, better yet, dehydrated.

Peppercorns are in full use is at local steak houses. Whether at such places as Prime, Morton's, Ruth's Chris or Charlie Palmer Steak, all employ peppercorns in sauces for steak, and allow a diner the option to grind some fresh pepper onto whatever is ordered.

Adam Odegaard is the vice president of food and beverage for Treasure Island, but his background is in the kitchen. He was formerly the chef in the hotel's the Steak House. The current chef, Bill Jacob, uses green peppercorns in an imaginative way. One of his top menu items is filet mignon of Ahi tuna, which sells as an entree for $24. The tuna is crusted with green peppercorns.

Odegaard, similar to many experienced chefs, is a pepper lover. His brother is a pepper baron in southern India, where he harvests and brokers peppercorns -- green, black and white. Odegaard recommends the use of white pepper in white sauces or creamed dishes.

"It's less visible than black pepper," he says, "so a sauce is more attractive when prepared with it."

Odegaard would never use pre-ground pepper, he says. "It's like grinding your own coffee," he insisted. "Most of the good chefs I know keep a few pepper grinders right on the line, so that they can grind the spice right into whatever they are cooking."

Odegaard also offered a few tips for storing, keeping and testing the freshness of pepper.

"I don't like to store pepper in the fridge," he says, "because refrigeration softens and even dampens (peppercorns), causing them to release the volatile oils that give them their distinctive flavors." He recommends storing peppercorns in a cool, dry place.

As far as shelf life is concerned, peppercorns begin to oxidize and lose flavor and pungency between six and eight weeks. It also loses its fresh taste, which is one of the main draws.

To test how the freshness of peppercorns, Odegaard suggests a simple experiment: Take about a dozen peppercorns, place them on a clean cutting board, and crush them with the blade of a heavy knife. They should retain that hot, sharp, vibrant, slightly nutty quality. If they do not, you probably do not want to cook with them.

There are a huge variety of peppermills on the market, in a wide price range. House 2 Home has a line produced by a company called William Bounds, which come in various sizes, shapes and colors. The classic combination salt shaker and pepper grinder, a metal and glass object, sells for $9.99.

An attractive brushed-metal mill, tall and sleek, is $19.99. At the top of that particular line is a battery-operated pepper grinder, $39.99. There are ceramic mills, as well, for those who may think that metal affects the taste of fresh pepper.

You may not want to bother with a contraption called the Pepper Ball, a device that has two plastic handles that you squeeze together to grind pepper. It's a great-looking little toy, but it doesn't grind pepper all that well. And that, after all, is precisely the point when you have fresh peppercorns.

House 2 Home sells a variety of peppercorns starting at $3.99, but you can also find them in most supermarkets, department stores and gourmet shops. For the ultimate selection of peppercorns, mills and other pepper related gadgets, check out Sur La Table, the trendy kitchen store at the Aladdin's Desert Passage mall.

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