White pepper

“ The pepper-tree is a tall bush-like plant, that, when trained and supported with props, will attain a height varying from fifteen to eighteen feet. The pepper grows in small, grape-like bunches, which are first red, then green, and lastly, nearly black. The plant begins to bear in the second year.
White pepper is not a natural production, but is obtained by dipping the black pepper several times in sea-water: this causes it to lose its colour, and become a dirty white. The price of a pikul of white pepper is six dollars (24s.) , whereas that of a pikul of black is only three dollars (12s.) ”

“ The pepper-corns grow in bunches close to each other. They are first green, but afterwards turn black. When dried they are separated from the dust and partly from the outward membranous coat by means of a kind of winnow, and are then laid up in warehouses. The white pepper is the same production as the black. ”

“ The black pepper of commerce is obtained from the dried unripe fruit (drupes) of Piper nigrum, a climbing plant common in the East Indies, and of the simplest culture, being multiplied with facility by cuttings or suckers. The ripe fruit, when deprived of its outer fleshy covering by washing, forms the white pepper of the shops. The dried fruiting spikes of P. longum, a perennial shrub, native of Malabar and Bengal, constitute long pepper. The fruit of Xylopia aromatica is commonly called Ethiopian pepper, from being used as pepper in Africa. ”

“ The finest white pepper is obtained from Tellicherry, on the Malabar Coast, but only in small quantity. The more important places for its preparation are the Straits Settlements, chiefly Rhio. The export of white pepper from Singapore in 1877 was 48,460 peculs. Most of the spice finds its way to China, where it is highly esteemed. In Europe, pepper in its natural state is with good reason preferred. ”

“ Black pepper is much more liable to be adulterated than the white, although it is perfectly easy to dilute the latter with broken rice or cracker dust, or with long pepper. There is a disposition many times on the part of those who can afford it to have the best that can be made, in appearance at least, and it is thought by some that the whiter the color of the pepper the purer the quality. ”

“ So far as I know the spices most commonly used are white pepper, paprika, cassia, mace, cloves, bay leaves, and celery salt. Black pepper should not be used at it makes black specks in the soup which are apt to be mistaken for dirt. About 7 oz. of white pepper to 100 gallons of finished soup will give it sufficient spiciness. If paprika is used this can be cut down somewhat. Cassia, mace or cloves are used in small amount, 1 oz. ”

“ The long pepper men clepe Sorbotin, and the black pepper is clept Fulfulle, and the white pepper is clept Bano. The long pepper cometh first when the leaf beginneth to come, and it is like the cats of hazel that cometh before the leaf, and it hangeth low. And after cometh the black with the leaf, in manner of clusters of raisins, all green. And when men have gathered it, then cometh the white that is somedeal less than the black. And of that men bring but little into this country; for they beyond withhold it for themselves, because it is better and more attempre in kind than the black. ”

“ If that be plucked from the tree before they gape and open of themselves, they make that spice which is called Long pepper; but if as they do ripen, they cleave and chawne by little and little, they shew within the white pepper: which afterwards beeing parched in the Sunne, chaungeth colour and waxeth blacke, and therewith riveled also.... Long pepper is soone sophisticated, with the senvie or mustard seed of Alexandria: and a pound of it is worth fifteen Roman deniers. ”

“ The products are manifold—guavas, mangoes, lemons, oranges, bananas, plantains, shaddocks, bread-fruit, etc.; and sugar, rice, sweet potatoes, ginger, areca, and cocoa-nuts, coffee, cloves, some nutmegs, and black and white pepper. My gharrie driver took me to see a Chinese pepper plantation—to me the most interesting thing that I saw on a very long and hot drive. Pepper is a very profitable crop. The vine begins to bear in three or four years after the cuttings have been planted, and yields two crops annually for about thirteen years. ”

“ Take a gill of sack and a quarter of an ounce of whole white pepper, put it in and boil it together for a quarter of an hour, then strain out the pepper, and put in as much double-refined sugar as will make it like a paste, then drop it, in what shape you please, on a tin plate, and let it dry itself. ”

“ The white pepper is merely the black deprived of its outside skin. For this purpose the finest red berries are selected, and put in baskets to steep, either in running water, or in pits dug for the purpose, near the banks of rivers. Sometimes they are only buried in the ground. ”

“ The ash in black peppers does not exceed from 4-10 to 7-10 per cent., and in white, 4-10 per cent.; it is fair to believe that anything above 5 per cent. for black and 2 per cent. for white is suspicious. The volatile oil, to which pepper owes its flavor, varies in black pepper from 1.69 to .70, and in white 1.26 to .57 are found, but this determination is not of great value as a means of detecting adulterations.
Piperine, which is a neutral crystalline substance, and resin, to which the pepper owes its pungency, of which it yields about two per cent. ”

“ The spikes are collected in bags or baskets and dried in the sun. When dry the pepper is put into bags containing from 64 to 128 ℔. In Sumatra the yield is estimated at about 11/2 ℔ per plant per annum. In Malabar each vine gives 2 ℔ a year up to the fifteenth or twentieth year, or about 24 ℔ from each tree, a single tree sometimes supporting eight or twelve vines; an acre is calculated to bear 2500 plants, to cost about £4 in outlay to bring it into bearing, and to yield a produce of £80 when in its best condition.
White pepper differs only in being prepared from the ripe fruits. ”

“ The black pepper is not as simple in its arrangement as the white, the maturity of the white giving it distinctness, while the shrunken character of the black berry makes the recognition of its various tissues difficult. ”

“ Procure those that are fresh and green. If you do not like them very fiery, cut a small slit in them, and take the seeds out carefully with a small knife, so as not to mangle the pepper. Soak them in salt and water, eight or nine days, changing the water each day. Keep them in a warm place. If you like them stuffed, chop white cabbage fine, season it highly with cloves, cinnamon, mace, and fill the peppers with it—add nasturtions if you like—sew them up carefully, and put them in cold spiced vinegar. Tomatoes when very small and green are good pickled with the peppers. ”

“ Dried peppers bring a good price per ounce, and fine Chili pepper grows wild everywhere. So far, trade is nil.
Another: One of the commonest plants in the Southern Pacific, a weed bearing a bright red flower almost exactly like the pine-cone in shape, contains, in the flower, a quantity of white watery liquid, which is declared by the natives, and by many of the whites, to be an exceptionally fine hair tonic. ”

“ The original of this word, Skt. pippali, means not the ordinary pepper of commerce ('black pepper') but long pepper, and the Sanskrit name is still so applied in Bengal, where one of the long-pepper plants, which have been classed sometimes in a different genus (Chavica) from the black pepper, was at one time much cultivated. There is still indeed a considerable export of long pepper from Calcutta; and a kindred species grows in the Archipelago. Long pepper is mentioned by Pliny, as well as white and black pepper ”

“ PEPPER RELISH—Chop fine a small head of white cabbage, six large green peppers, and a nice bunch of celery. Put in a large bowl and sprinkle with a half cup of salt, mix well, cover and let stand over night. Next morning drain and mix in two tablespoons of mustard seed, and pack in a stone jar. Put in a porcelain kettle three pints of vinegar, two tablespoons sugar, one tablespoon each of whole cloves, allspice and whole pepper, a clove of garlic and one onion minced. Simmer gently twenty minutes, strain and pour boiling hot over the vegetables. When cold cover and keep in a cool place. ”

“ The white costeth seven deniers a pound, and the black is sold after foure deniers by the pound."—Pliny, tr. by Phil. Holland, Bk. xii. ch. 7. c. 80-90.—"And there come to these marts great ships, on account of the bulk and quantity of pepper and malabathrum.... The pepper is brought (to market) here, being produced largely only in one district near these marts, that which is called Kottonarikē."—Periplus, § 56.
c. A.D. 100.—"The Pepper-tree (πέπερι δένδρον) is related to grow in India; it is short, and the fruit as it first puts it forth is long, resembling pods ”

“ and imagine an angel suddenly sweeping down out of a better land and setting before him a mighty porterhouse steak an inch and a half thick, hot and sputtering from the griddle; dusted with a fragrant pepper; enriched with little melting bits of butter of the most unimpeachable freshness and genuineness; the precious juices of the meat trickling out and joining the gravy, archipelagoed with mushrooms; a township or two of tender, yellowish fat gracing an outlying district of this ample county of beefsteak; the long white bone which divides the sirloin from the tenderloin still in its place; ”

“ To reach La Paz from Calamarca it is necessary to cross several quebradas, or wide ravines. Then the gravelly plain spreads out and stretches to the precipice of the circular basin in which lies the city. La Paz spreads along the inner sides of a rocky amphitheatre, a panorama of red roofs, blended blue and white buildings, church towers, and parks of willow and eucalyptus trees. The greenest and most refreshing spot in the mountain bowl, the one which gladdens the eye and rests the mind while filling it with pleasing anticipations, is the cemetery. ”

“ A fairer city never bloomed in volcanic desert. The valley of the river Chili is so vividly green that it seems alive. The snow-cap of the extinct crater of El Misti is ever in sight, while the fleecy dome of Coropuna and the glistening pinnacle of Chachani stand out like sentinels in white robes, all of them above 19,000 feet. ”

“ If the berries are left too long on the vines they lose part of their aromatic, pungent hot taste, and if gathered too soon they become broken and dusty in drying. After drying, when they become black and shriveled up, they are cleaned and winnowed. Good black pepper is firm and not too deeply wrinkled, does not easily crumble or break in the hand, it is also heavy and readily sinks in water. The inner seed should be hard, round and smooth and of a grayish-brown color. ”

“ The fruit grows so close together on the spike that when ripe they become one solid mass. There is also a variety of long pepper called elephant pepper. Long peppers are mostly used for pickles. A medium, called Pippua moola, is made from the roots and stems; it is very stimulating.
Cubeb peppers are the berries of the vine Cubeb officinalis, a product of Java, Borneo and Sumatra, but mostly imported by way of Batavia and Canton. They are of a gray color, about the size of black pepper, somewhat longer, more wrinkled and with a short slender stalk. They have a hot, camphor taste. ”

“ Peppers, as like as not of both species, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic cut fine as if for a mince of greens—"pepper hash," the American crudely calls an arrangement closely akin in motive—are mingled together so deftly, are steeped in vinegar and oil so effectually, as to seem, not many in one, but the one in many, the crowning glory of the glorious vegetable world of the South. Nothing in common has this delectable salad 208 with the macédoine, which the Spaniard also makes. ”

“ Piper nigrum is indigenous to the forests of Travancore and Malabar, whence it has been introduced into Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, the Philippines and the West Indies.
History—Pepper [2144] is one of the spices earliest used by mankind, and although now a commodity of but small importance in comparison with sugar, coffee, and cotton, it was for many ages the staple article of trade between Europe and India. It would require in fact a volume to give a full idea of the prominent importance of pepper during the middle ages. ”

“ Another globe, say six inches in diameter, and supported by a string, may be compared to the moon, and, like the earth, is now luminous, and shines only by borrowed light: the moon is simply a reflector of light; like a sheet of white cardboard, or a metallic mirror. When, therefore, the small globe is passed between the lantern and the large globe, a shadow is cast on the large globe: it is also seen that only the half of the small globe turned towards the lantern is illuminated, while the other half, opposite the large globe, is in shadow or darkness. ”

“ In structure it does not bear a close resemblance to black pepper, as its pepper corns, or berries, and husks all harden together on a long, central, irregular, climbing stem, much in the same way that in the pines the seed and covering are all hardened into one cone. It not only has more woody fiber but brings with it much more sand, which is found imbedded in the crevices of the irregular fruit, than is found in ordinary pepper. ”