Pepper, Black

Pepper vines bear white flowers on spikes, becoming peppercorns that look like small clusters of berries. The peppercorns ripen from green to red and then to brown; green peppercorns become black peppercorns when dried in the sun. Black pepper owes its pungency to a resin and its flavor to a volatile oil. Most of the pungent flavor of the black peppercorn is in its skin. Green peppercorns are picked unripe, and sold dry or pickled in vinegar or brine. White pepper is formed by soaking fresh berries in salt water, removing their red shells by hand, and then drying them. Some say white peppercorn is milder than black and is a more favorable spice. Gray pepper is most often a ground mix of black and white peppercorns.