Vegetables

Whatever their flavour, most vegetables benefit from a judicious seasoning of pepper. A coarse grinding of black brightens the anaemic hue of cauliflower and adds texture and aroma to homely staples like mashed potato and swede. The assertive bite of white gives new meaning to the much-maligned cabbage; try Peppered Greens with Lemon and Coriander if you’re not convinced.

The recipes in this chapter focus mainly on vegetables that are either innately sweet and contrast with pepper’s pungency, or those with strong savoury flavours that match it. Dense-fleshed vegetables such as pumpkins and carrots contain complex sugars that caramelise into a naturally sweet glaze when slowly roasted or braised. The resulting deep mellow flavours need pepper’s contrasting piquant bite. Mushrooms cry out for it too, as do aubergines and earthy greens such as curly kale and cavalo nero.