Pepper (Piper nigrum) is the most regularly used spice in the world and one of the oldest. It is referred to as the common spice and the king of spice.

The pepper plant grows best close to the equator and is a perennial vine indigenous to India. A climbing plant, it is sometimes encouraged to grow around living trees or up framework. After three to five years, the plants fruit from white flowers which then turn into slender clusters of red berries. It will continue to fruit every three years for up to 40 years. The berries turn green and are then picked by hand, sorted and stems generally discarded.

To produce black pepper, the berries are dried in the sun and raked several times during the day until they are black and wrinkled. This takes about a week. To produce white peppercorns, the berries are harvested a little later and then packed in sacks and soaked in running water for a week. This allows the outer husk to be removed, leaving the whitish seed. White peppercorns are not as pungent as the black and have a cleaner, subtle flavour that I prefer when seasoning dishes. Green peppercorns are the unripe seeds of black pepper and are only available fresh occasionally. Thai cooking uses green peppercorns and they also complement duck and game dishes. They are just as hot as black pepper but the flavour is lighter.