
No Spice More Superior: Pepper - diodorus
https://nyamcenterforhistory.org/2018/09/24/pepper/
======
eutropia
I sometimes look at my spice cabinet in awe, or down at my eggs when I crack
pepper over them and think "people used to die for this." As a side note, its
interesting how similar pepper's preparation is to coffee (in the harvesting,
husking, drying process)

~~~
tomp
On the other hand, saffron is still ridiculously expensive (or at least the
shops often price it like that).

~~~
munificent
Most spices were expensive because distance and perishing. Faster travel and
refrigeration fixed that.

Saffron is expensive because takes an insanely large volume of arable land and
manual labor to produce. A saffron crocus plant flowers once per year. It
produces about four flowers, and each has three tiny threads of saffron. They
are harvested by hand.

To produce a pound of saffron requires about 50,000-70,000 flowers and 40
hours of manual labor.

------
simulate
Slate columnist Sara Dickerman wrote a critique of pepper as a table spice a
few years ago, while acknowledging its historical medicinal qualities, as the
OP does:

> Why should this brawny spice be kept on the countertop at all? Why not stash
> it in the rack with the fennel seed, the mustard seed, and the cinnamon—all
> the wonderful spices that add life to our food but are by no means all-
> purpose? I think we’d appreciate pepper's qualities all the more if we used
> it just for specific dishes, not universally.

[http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/01/salt_and_pep...](http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/01/salt_and_pepper_why_are_they_always_together_.html)

~~~
abtinf
I like having pepper in a shaker on the table because it improves every food I
add it to. But it hasn’t occurred to me that might just be a weird bias.

Instead of hiding pepper away on the spice rack, why not bring more spices to
the table? Get 5 or 6 more salt shakers, fill them with additional spices, put
them on the dining table, and try them with different foods. Could be a fun
way to learn more about flavors when cooking at home.

~~~
ghaff
If you mean literally a shaker, I'd highly recommend getting a grinder even if
it's one of those disposable ones built into the bottle. One of my pet peeves
(#FirstWorldProblems I know) is restaurants, especially those at the mid- to
high-end, with pepper shakers.

~~~
colanderman
I've been refilling the same McCormick grinder for a decade now. There is no
comparison between freshly ground and pre-ground pepper, even if the
peppercorns have been sitting around a while.

~~~
jimpudar
You should try upgrading to a proper mill. Those McCormick grinders just kind
of crush the corns into little pieces, a real grinder can produce a powerfully
pungent powder that will really knock your socks off.

A pepper mill is one of those things that you should upgrade first in your
kitchen, right up there with your chef's knife.

~~~
colanderman
Thanks for the tip!

------
abtinf
It’s interesting to think about how recent the massive increase in quality and
variety of food really is.

Imagine you were the wealthiest person living in New York City in the 19th or
even early 20th century. Your diet would be unbelievably bland. Very few
ethnic cuisines, very few spices available, and overall food quality was
horrendous due to lack of industrialization, sanitation, and processes that
hadn’t been invented yet.

And that doesn’t even get into the consequences of the lack of refrigeration
and refrigerated logistics. It is a stunning achievement that we can eat _raw_
vegetables year round, with such a high confidence in safety that every
contamination incident is national news. The modern salad is a tribute to
man’s genius and capital investment.

~~~
VerDeTerre
While I suspect that's largely true, I was intrigued by the article about "The
Great Sushi Craze of 1905" that appeared a few years ago
([http://eccentricculinary.com/the-great-sushi-craze-
of-1905-p...](http://eccentricculinary.com/the-great-sushi-craze-
of-1905-part-1/),
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10003510](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10003510)).
It offers a minor counterpoint and also suggests access to and curiosity about
foreign cuisines can wax and wane.

------
wenc
As stated in the article, the "piperine" compound in pepper has been observed
to increase bioavailability of other compounds we eat. It's been studied in
the context of curcumin (from turmeric), which is an anti-inflammatory.

------
m3kw9
That is why a great pepper grinder is a very good investment in your kitchen.
The classic Peugeot grinder is the one to get.

------
justifier
if you like pepper i would recommend trying the green variety, it is delicious
and rarely in peoples spice cabinet

------
RosanaAnaDana
Nutmeg still king imo.

