Peppercorn

Pepper is the world’s most important spice, and, like salt, it was once used as a form of currency. It is native to India’s Malabar Coast, where it grows wild. The smooth, woody vines of the pepper plant (Piper nigrum) can climb 20 feet (6 m) up tree trunks. Pepper is cultivated in many tropical regions, including Malaysia and parts of South America. One of the first spices to be merchandised, pepper was the most important commercial article traded between East India and Europe for hundreds of years. Pepper most likely changed the course of history, given that the demands for it were so great that they inspired the many efforts by the Portuguese to find a way to reach India by sailing around Africa (they finally succeeded in 1498). The goals was to obtain the spice without having to pay the exorbitant prices for overland transport through the so-called Ottoman Barrier on the way to Europe. Peppercorns are obtained from long grapelike clusters of about two dozen small berries each. These gradually turn from green to pink and, finally, to red as they ripen.