Desserts and Sweetmeats

Using pepper to flavour sweet dishes was commonplace in Roman and medieval kitchens but has not been part of the modern cook’s repertoire until recently. As American food writer Michele Jordan comments, the practice re-emerged in the late ’90s when chillies started showing up in desserts. Chefs then went on to discover the range of flavours of the peppercorn, which they realised could enhance rather than dominate a sweet dish.

This chapter was one of the most challenging. It took repeated testing to discover exactly how much pepper was needed to flavour different types of dessert. I found that chilled or frozen desserts can take more pepper than most, since low temperatures dull the pungency. However, once the chill wears off there is a slow after-burn so you still need to add pepper with care.