Cooking with Pepper

As the late French chef Louis Diat once commented, no other spice can do so much for so many different types of food. He was right – pepper starts to work its magic even before cooking begins. Added to marinades and dry-rubs, sauce bases and stocks, it will round out the basic flavour of the finished dish remarkably well. Added during cooking, pepper is a stock-in-trade seasoning; whereas a final dash at the end adjusts the flavour. At the table, the diner can add a discretionary turn or two of the mill for extra piquancy and aroma; there are few who can resist doing so.