November 14, 2014
by Jason Ford
Ford on Food
I’m a pepper fanatic. By my estimate, it’s the king of all spices.
It’s been said that in the history of the spice trade, no other spice had such an impact on early exploration, commerce, different cultures and their cuisines.
During the European Middle Ages, pepper was like black gold and considered as valuable as money.
Landlords would accept pepper as rent payments – hence the term ‘peppercorn rent’, which for some reason means the opposite these days (ie cheap, like my first apartment).
Pepper is the dried berry obtained from a climbing vine that originates in Asia.
Black, green and white peppercorns are the exact same berry, but picked at different stages of development or processed differently.
Cayenne and red pepper are from a completely different source; they were originally used as a substitute for the once expensive peppercorn.
The spiciness comes from an alkaloid called piperine.
White peppercorns have had the husk removed and therefore contain less of the piperine flavour.
Pepper is at its best when freshly milled, because factory-ground pepper goes stale quickly.
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Peppered Calamari
Ingredients:
- Squid tubes or prepared fresh calamari rings
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 teaspoon freshly milled black peppercorns
1 teaspoon red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon thinly-sliced red chilli
- vegetable oil (for cooking)
Method:
- Clean and slice squid tubes into 2cm thick rings
- Combine a cup of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of freshly milled black peppercorns and a teaspoon of red chili powder
- Toss the calamari rings through the flour mix
- Heat vegetable oil in a wok until lightly smoking and then add the calamari rings
- Cook for approximately 1 minute, add 1 teaspoon of thinly sliced red chili and remove from wok
- Place on absorbent kitchen paper to remove any excess oil
Serve on a garden salad with fresh lime juice
