Crushed black pepper for a portion of sharpness in meals and sauces

Crushed black pepper fit almost every savoury meal. It is therefore the most widely used spice in the world. Although it is often used together with (sea) salt, it also gives your dishes a powerful flavour of its own. The substance piperine is responsible for the sharpness of the crushed black pepper. It is sharper and more aromatic than the white variety, which is often used because of its light spicy taste and the fact that it fits better in light coloured dishes and sauces. You can order crushed black pepper online at Natural Spices in a package of 500 grams, 1.5 kilos or 25 kilos. The spice has a long shelf life, provided you keep it cool, dry and dark.

How does crushed black pepper grow?

Crushed black pepper comes from the tropical pepper plant, a plant from the piperaceae family. The green and white peppercorns also come from the same plant. The colour of the peppercorns is determined by the moment of harvesting. Crushed black pepper is actually the berry of this tropical plant. At the moment the berry turns from green to red during its ripening process, it is picked and dried in the sun for 3 to 4 days. This gives the spice its brown to black colour. It is then crushed into small chunks between 1.2 and 2 millimetres in size.

What do you use crushed black pepper for?

You can actually use this black pepper as well as the crushed type in almost any savoury dish. Although pepper has a strong flavour, it suits a wide variety of other flavour profiles. It is also often used in sauces and cheese dishes and it is of course the basis for the famous pepper sauce. Because the peppercorns have already been partially loosened, it is easier for the spice to release its flavour to the other ingredients in the dish. Moreover, it saves you time with a pepper mill or mortar pestle. Do add crushed black pepper at the end of the preparation, because otherwise you run the risk of the flavour evaporating.

The most commonly used spice is also healthy

Since crushed black pepper is such a common spice in our kitchens, you often don't realise that it actually has many health benefits. For example, it is a source of vitamin C and vitamin K and also contains a large portion of potassium and iron. The piperine in the crushed black pepper stimulates digestion too. In addition, the use of crushed black pepper has been shown to facilitate the absorption of other nutrients in your body. For this reason it is often recommended to add black pepper to dishes with turmeric. In this way you strengthen the naturally medicinal properties of that spice.