White pepper

Poivre blanc

What it is

The same berry as black pepper, but soaked in running water for a week until the outer skin rots away and can be rubbed off. That fermentation is where its barnyard note comes from, and why it tastes nothing like black.

In the kitchen

Use it where black specks would be visible and unwanted — béchamel, a white fish sauce, a pale soup. That is its real job.

Goes with

Cream Butter Potato Scallop Turbot Nutmeg Chicken Comté

Same species

Ashanti pepper Black pepper Cubeb pepper Green peppercorn Hoja santa Lolot leaf

Also used with

Cai pu Dong cai Dried lily buds Kokotxas (hake throat) Lion's mane Mace

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us