| From
the Pantry: Pepper
By
Paula Gray
Pepper
is small in quantity and great in virtue. —Plato
Do
you use black pepper when you cook, or at the table to season your
food? The universal appeal of pepper in all cuisines makes it the
most commonly used spice on the planet. In the spice world, pepper
is king.
Historically
this was not always so. Here is a spicy sprinkling of pepper history.
| |
Primarily,
the strong taste of pepper was used liberally to disguise the
taste of meat that was spoiled, a common occurrence before modern
refrigeration came onto the scene. |
| |
Pepper
was so hard to get, and so valuable, it was used as currency
to pay taxes in Ancient Greece and Rome. |
| |
It
was a measure of a man’s worth because it was so expensive.
Only the wealthy could afford it, and a man’s wealth was
judged by how much pepper was in his pantry. |
| |
During
medieval times, pepper was literally — pound for pound—worth
its weight in gold. |
| |
Pepper
was so prized it was left to beneficiaries in wills and bestowed
as dowries. |
| |
During
the Middle Ages in France, tenants paid their rent in peppercorns.
The expression "peppercorn rent" comes from the token
payment of a single peppercorn to signify the long-term relationship
between a tenant and landowner. A larger supply of pepper could
buy a serf his freedom |
| |
Slaves
who worked on spice trading ships had their pockets sewn to
prevent them from stealing any of this most precious commodity. |
|
