Black pepper: the perfect addition to your home cooked meals

Black pepper is almost always used with salt in cooking. Black pepper is often overlooked and described as just another spice in the pantry that can help add flavour to dishes – but what kind of flavour? Most people only use black pepper for a small number of dishes, and the reason some people might not use black pepper a lot is because it has a rep for being slightly spicy.

Believe it or not, black pepper is one of the most versatile spices in the kitchen, but sadly it’s underused in many ways. With its earthy and mildly spicy flavour, black pepper can enhance the flavour of any meal. From pasta and roasts to fish and chicken kebabs, black pepper is the perfect addition to your dishes.

What are the Benefits of Black Pepper?

Robertsons black pepper is more than just a kitchen pantry staple, it has been crowned the king of spices and has been used for centuries for Ayurvedic medicine due to its astounding list of benefits. Apart from providing seasoning to your meals, what are the other benefits of black pepper? Let’s check it out.

1. It’s rich in antioxidants, which means it can help reduce or prevent the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules that can cause damage to your cells.

2. It contains anti-inflammatory properties. This means that consuming black pepper can help fight redness, swelling, warmth and pain in an affected area.

3. It adds phenomenal flavour to your dishes. Its earthy and spicy flavour adds the right amount of subtle heat and elevates the flavour of ordinary ingredients.

Did you know that the main ingredient found in black pepper is piperine? This is the reason why black pepper has that signature fiery kick to it. Now, when you add crushed black pepper or powder to your meals, you can instantly taste a subtle difference in flavour. It adds just the right amount of kick without overpowering the dish. If you ever felt like a meal was lacking something that you couldn’t quite put your finger on, chances are it needs a cracking of Robertsons black pepper. This will leave your dish with a deeper flavour.

What is the Purpose of Black Pepper in Cooking?

The purpose of using Robertsons black pepper in cooking is to change the flavour of the meal. You can choose to crush the black peppercorns yourself or buy a bottle to crack them over your plate of eggs, pasta, or fried chicken. Or, if you’re not a fan of those hard bits, you can buy the powder – it works just as well too!

How to use Black Pepper in Your Home-Cooked Meals

Are you ready to cook up super tasty meals at home? Grab your salt and pepper shakers, and a bunch of ingredients from your recipe of choice and let’s start cooking. Sometimes less is more, and simple ingredients can often surprise you when added to meals. Here are 5 ways you can use black pepper in your home-cooked meals.

In various spicy or savoury dishes Curries, vindaloos, and other spicy and savoury dishes are made with a blend of herbs and spices. Black pepper is so common that you can even find it in many curry powder spice blends. This spicy beer-battered fish recipe uses Robertsons ground black peppercorns as part of the tartare sauce – yum!

Used as a condiment

Black pepper can also be considered a condiment as it’s used to enhance the flavour of food. When you’re sitting down to eat your meal, and you feel it tastes slightly bland, sprinkling salt and black pepper will do just the trick. This quick fish taco recipe uses Robertsons salt and pepper as a condiment for the salsa!

As a dry spice rub or spice mixture

A dry rub is a combination of spices used to season the meat before cooking. There are many ways to soak flavours into meat such as a marinade, brine and even applying a dry spice rub. For example, this peri-peri chicken livers recipe is used as part of a dry rub to season the livers for a spicy kick.

Used in some sweet dishes

Did you know that black pepper can also be used in some sweet dishes? Strangely enough, the combination of sweet and spicy is well-known and loved all over the world. You might love this sweet and sticky glazed pork ribs recipe that’s been seasoned with Robertsons black pepper. Sweet, spicy and stick – the perfect combo to enjoy.

Used in seasoning

When meals are bland, you can count on seasoning to make it grand. Adding black pepper during cooking will intensify the flavour and provide a delicious taste. This millet and boerewors sauce recipe uses Robertsons black pepper as a seasoning for the saucy boerewors – a tasty midnight meal!

How Black Pepper Adds Flavour to Any Meal

Cooking with salt and pepper may seem pretty simple, but it’s the simplest ingredients that lead to exquisite meals. Whether you’re cooking beef, game, lamb or roasting veggies, black pepper packs a punch you can’t help but enjoy.

We believe the foundation of good cooking starts with fresh and high-quality ingredients that are made to nourish our bodies. Only Robertsons goes to the end of the Earth to source and craft the very best range of herbs and spices for your kitchen. For more exciting dishes with black pepper, head over to WhatsForDinner for some mealtime inspiration.