Green Peppercorns

Information about Green Peppercorns

 Featured Ingredient - Madagascar

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Green Peppercorns are the immature berries of the plant Piper Nigrum , which are picked well before they ripen and are often pickled in brine or freeze dried. Although they are harvested at the same stage of ripeness as black peppercorns, they are not allowed to dry resulting in an aromatic yet fresher less pungent flavour than black peppercorns.

Piper Nigrum is native to Southern India, however it is now grown in many countries including Madagascar, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka and Brazil. The berries grow on spikes, with fifty to sixty berries per spike and are hand picked at the optimum time. Just out of interest, black, white, and green peppercorns are all the same berries of the same plant, but harvested at different times and/or processed in different ways.

They are popular in French, Creole and some Thai cooking. This is the also the pepper called for in a traditional "Pepper Steak". They can be used ground or whole and go particularly well in cream-based sauces served with seafood, meat and poultry.  Unfortunately, because of the extra processing required and the smaller yield, these are usually more expensive than their white and black cohorts however, they are well worth the extra money.

You can find recipes using green peppercorns on both the Madagascar main page and throughout the site. Just use the search form to find them all

Happy Cooking!