As much as I am fond of spicy food, I don’t like using pepper to get that burning kick. I usually put hot sauce or some chili flakes on my food if I like them spicy. But in the interest of giving justice to peppercorns, we’ll give you a rundown of different kinds of peppercorn.

Black Peppercorns

The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe approximately five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single seed. Peppercorns, and the powdered pepper derived from grinding them, may be described as black pepper, white pepper, green pepper, and very often simply pepper.  Dried ground pepper is one of the most common spices in European cuisine and its descendants, having been known and prized since antiquity for both its flavor and its use as a medicine. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine. It may be found on nearly every dinner table in some parts of the world, often alongside table salt.

White Peppercorns

White pepper actually comes from the same plant species as black peppercorns, but the peppercorns have been allowed to fully ripen before having the black outer husks removed. Ground white peppercorns go especially well in sauces, on light colored meats such as fish, with eggs, and even in mashed potatoes. They are the preferred pepper in much of the world.

Tellicherry Peppercorns

Tellicherry whole black peppercorns are left on the vine longer so they develop a deep, rich flavor. Considered the finest pepper in the world, these extra-large berries come from the Malabar coast of India.Black peppercorns are picked from the vine just before they ripen and turn red. As they dry, the berries turn black. This particularly large, more mature, berry has a full, robust flavor described as almost fruity.

Sichuan Peppercorns

It is widely used in the cuisine of Sichuan, China, from which it takes its name, as well as Tibetan, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Japanese and Konkani and Batak Toba cuisines, among others. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth that sets the stage for these hot spices.

Some more peppercorns are the green and pink peppercorns but their usage does not differ much from the black peppercorns, so I reconsidered putting them here too. The culinary usage of pepper is widely known throughout the world, and budding chefs like me should learn how to combine spices like peppercorns in order to get the right amount of flavor.