A few turns of the black pepper mill will leave freshly ground black pepper for your dishes. - PHOTOS BY NASHAUNA DRUMMOND
LAST WEEK we started a feature that delves into foods whose names include the word 'black'. This week we look at black pepper, black sesame seeds and black vinegar.
BLACK PEPPER
The berry-like fruits, or peppercorns, are nearly globular. They become yellowish red at maturity and bear a single seed. Their odour is penetrating and aromatic; the taste is hot, biting, and very pungent.
The berries are picked when they begin to turn red. The collected berries are immersed in boiling water for about 10 minutes, which causes them to turn dark brown or black in an hour. Then they are spread on mats or concrete floors to dry in the sun for three or four days. The whole peppercorns, when ground, yield black pepper (white pepper is obtained from peppercorns from which the outer part of the pericarp has been removed).
Pepper contains from one to three per cent essential oil that has the aromatic flavour of pepper but not the pungency. The pungent principles are contained in the oleoresin and consist of piperine, chavicine, piperidine and piperettine.
Made by grinding the whole dried pepper berry, including the outer husk. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states that it's a hotly pungent spice made from the berries of piperaceae, indigenous to the Malabar Coast of India. One of the oldest spices known, black pepper is probably the most widely used spice in the world today. It has a limited usage in medicine as a carnative and as a stimulant of gastric secretions. In early historic times pepper was widely cultivated in the tropics of Southeast Asia, where it became highly regarded as a condiment. Pepper early became an important article of overland trade between India and Europe.
BLACK VINEGAR DRINKS
Known as kurosu in Japan, black vinegar is aged vinegar made from rice, barley and sometimes brown rice. The vinegar is kept in a ceramic pot for three to six months; some for as long as a year. When it ages, it becomes a brownish, darker coloured liquid, hence the name 'black vinegar'. It is rich in citric acid, vitamins and minerals. Some of the known health benefits of black vinegar include blood thinning, lowered blood pressure, improved blood circulation, lowered cholesterol and improved energy levels. Women drink it as a cosme-ceutical product. Several scientific studies have been published in Japan about health benefits of black vinegar in the past few years.
Black vinegar has seen a big boom. The most popular one disappeared from supermarkets last year because the maker could not keep up with demand. In Japan black vinegar is often referred to as a functional drink.
BENEFITS
Black vinegar is super rich in amino acids. It has 16 times the amino acid content of regular vinegar and 43 times the amount found in apple cider vinegar. Amino acid is very well known for its many functions. In Japan, the main production area of black vinegar is kagoshima.
HOW TO EAT
There are various types of black vinegar, those that are expensive to those that are cheap. Most persons prefer the mizkan type, as some can drink it straight without honey, sugar or water.
BLACK SESAME SEEDS
Black sesame seeds are known for health benefits, especially for the kidney and liver, and are a good source of calcium; one gram of seeds contains approximately 85 milligrams of calcium (twice as much as white sesame seeds). Black sesame seeds also have high amounts of protein, iron, magnesium and are also a good source of essential fatty acids.
Taken from: http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=64286-black-foods-beauty-foods-amino-acids; and the Encyclopedia Brittannica.
