Pepper has a noble past steeped in the history and tradition of the Asian world. Both black and white pepper date back more than 4,000 years and were used to treat stomach aches and digestive problems during ancient times. The Chinese used pepper to treat malaria, cholera and dysentery and Indian monks were known to swallow 7-9 grains of pepper a day in the belief that it would stimulate endurance on their long treks.

Besides being medicinal, pepper was so valuable that it was often bartered in lieu of payment for taxes (too bad that doesn’t apply today), and in 408 AD, part of the ransom demanded by Attila The Hun for the city of Rome was 3,000 pounds of pepper. Arabian traders established a pepper monopoly and introduced the spice to Europe via trade routes through the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. During the Middle Ages, in England rent could be paid in pounds of pepper and its use became a status symbol of fine cookery. The French had a saying, “as dear as pepper.”

People in India knew the flavor of pepper even before Alexander the Great conquered their territories. Responsible for more than 50% of the world’s production, the word, “pepper” is derived from the Sanskrit word, “pipali” and India’s two finest pepper varieties,

"Malabar Garbled”

and "Tellichery Extra Bold” are grown in the monsoon forests of the Malabar coast in Kerala. In 1458, the Portuguese, led by Vasco Da Gama’s discovery of a trade route to India and the Spice Islands around the Cape of Good Hope, dominated the pepper trade until the 18th century.
In the modern world, pepper production has greatly increased as new plantations were established in the last decades of the twentieth century in Thailand, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka.

Who would ever have guessed that such a mundane and ubiquitous flavoring had such a formidable past. Show some respect and salute the next time you pour some on your…whatever!

Hooray for pepper!

What do YOU think about pepper?