Black & White Pepper
Black & White pepper is obtained from the small dried berries (peppercorns) of the vine Piper nigrum. The name pepper is derived from the Sanskrit name of long pepper, pippali. That word gave rise to the Greek peperi and Latin piper. Pepper goes by many names in different languages such as hu jiao (Chinese), kali mirch (Hindi), pimienta (Spanish), fulfill / fulfil (Arabic), poivre (French), pepe (Italian), and pfeffer (German)(1).
Black pepper is native to Malabar, a tropical region on the Western Coast of Southern India (part of the Indian state of Kerala). The pepper vine is a perennial ivy-like climber which adheres itself to a support tree or man-made structure. The small (about 0.2 inches), round, berry-like fruits (known as “drupes”) grow in clusters called “spikes”. A dried drupe is known as a “peppercorn”. Depending on harvest time and processing, pepper corns can be black, white, green, or red.
