Traditions with black pepper

Black pepper, the berry of a vine native to the Malabar coast of India, is the most traded spice in the world and for centuries drove the spice routes. A pinch on the table is so familiar that its history is easy to overlook: Romans paid ransoms in pepper, and the wealth of Venice and Kerala was built on it. These pages follow where it is used and the customs that grew around it, from a pepper mill at a restaurant to a Kerala wedding feast.

Where it is used

In Kerala, pepper is a part of everyday cooking and of the sadya, the festival feast of Onam. In Europe, it seasons meat, soup and sausage, and in China it flavours stir-fries and hot pots. In Vietnam, Kampot pepper of Cambodia is prized, and in Ethiopia and West Africa, related peppers appear in berbere and in local dishes. Rasam, a pepper-water soup of South India, is a home remedy by tradition.

What it means

Pepper was a currency, a dowry and a sign of wealth, and a peppercorn rent is still a term in English law for a token payment. At the table, offering salt and pepper is a gesture of care. In Indian homes, a bowl of rasam with pepper is the food of comfort. The spice is a reminder that trade and tradition travelled together, and that a small berry changed the map of the world.