Pre-seasoning with black pepper

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
Staff member
Joined
19 Apr 2015
Local time
2:39 AM
Messages
48,884
Location
Maidstone, Kent, UK
Lately I've been watching Barefoot Contessa. Its one of the few US cooking programmes I like, mainly because it shows step by step how to make a dish and there is no excited shouting or loopy camerawork! Its a nice calm series. Anyway, I noticed that she uses a lot of ground black pepper as a pre- seasoning in recipes. I don't tend to do that unless its a specific recipe such as a curry which uses black pepper as one of the spices.

She adds it, for example, to a vinaigrette and in quite large quantities. Something I wouldn't do. I mean to pay more attention to UK cooking programmes to see if they do this. Black pepper is really quite a powerful spice.

Is this common practice in the US? Is it something you do?
 
Morning Glory said:
Lately I've been watching Barefoot Contessa. Its one of the few US cooking programmes I like, mainly because it shows step by step how to make a dish and there is no excited shouting or loopy camerawork! Its a nice calm series. Anyway, I noticed that she uses a lot of ground black pepper as a pre- seasoning in recipes. I don't tend to do that unless its a specific recipe such as a curry which uses black pepper as one of the spices.

She adds it, for example, to a vinaigrette and in quite large quantities. Something I wouldn't do. I mean to pay more attention to UK cooking programmes to see if they do this. Black pepper is really quite a powerful spice.

Is this common practice in the US? Is it something you do?
Click to expand...
I use a lot of ground pepper but it's not solely black. I have 2 pepper grinders on my prep wheel with one being tricolor, black white and red, and the other is Vietnamese white. Around here people either eat spicy or can't stand it, i.e. they'll eat chili's and such or they don't even have a pepper grinder on the table.
 
Morning Glory said:
Is this common practice in the US? Is it something you do?
Click to expand...
In short…yes, and yes.

Longer answer: yup, black pepper goes in just about everything, along with salt - they’re just standard.

Scrambled eggs this morning…several grinds of black pepper before pouring them into the pan, which had onion, bell pepper, and tomato in there that had also gotten a few grinds.

Preseasoned hash brown patties in the air fryer - a few grinds of pepper on each side before going in, a good sprinkle of salt after they came out.

Chicken/beef/pork…pretty much every recipe starts with “Salt and pepper the outside of the meat…” and salad greens always get several grinds before being tossed, salad dressings, absolutely…lunchmeat sandwiches (especially if there are things like onion, lettuce, tomato involved).
 
TastyReuben said:
In short…yes, and yes.

Longer answer: yup, black pepper goes in just about everything, along with salt - they’re just standard.

Scrambled eggs this morning…several grinds of black pepper before pouring them into the pan, which had onion, bell pepper, and tomato in there that had also gotten a few grinds.

Preseasoned hash brown patties in the air fryer - a few grinds of pepper on each side before going in, a good sprinkle of salt after they came out.

Chicken/beef/pork…pretty much every recipe starts with “Salt and pepper the outside of the meat…” and salad greens always get several grinds before being tossed, salad dressings, absolutely…lunchmeat sandwiches (especially if there are things like onion, lettuce, tomato involved).?
Click to expand...
Very interesting. I really hardly ever use it as a pre-seasoning. As I said before, its really rather a strong spice. Wonder how it came about to be so ubiquitous in the US? I think its not so in European cooking.
 
The ONLY pepper I have is in my pepper grinder. I use a rainbow peppercorn blend - Whole Black Peppercorns, Whole Green Peppercorns, Whole Pink Peppercorns, Whole White Peppercorns.
I use fresh ground peppercorns and my house blend all-purpose seasoning (not after cooking) in/on everything that isn't sweet. Before, during, and after cooking.

rainbow-peppercorns.jpg
 
msmofet said:
The ONLY pepper I have is in my pepper grinder. I use a rainbow peppercorn blend - Whole Black Peppercorns, Whole Green Peppercorns, Whole Pink Peppercorns, Whole White Peppercorns.
I use fresh ground peppercorns and my house blend all-purpose seasoning (not after cooking) in/on everything that isn't sweet. Before, during, and after cooking.

View attachment 131020
Click to expand...
I've got *backup* ounces in the pantry... 🤫
 
These are what I buy - they’re almost always buy one, get two free:

1752352227997.png


No pre-ground pepper in the house, and my only pepper grinder is a Peugeot one I bought in Paris last time we were there. I bought the small one suited for the table…I should have gotten a bigger one, because I have to fill it every few days.
 
TastyReuben said:
These are what I buy - they’re almost always buy one, get two free:

View attachment 131021

No pre-ground pepper in the house, and my only pepper grinder is a Peugeot one I bought in Paris last time we were there. I bought the small one suited for the table…I should have gotten a bigger one, because I have to fill it every few days.
Click to expand...
Agree with no pre-ground pepper! That's -almost- a whoopin' around here.
 
The only things I really use pepper for as a pre-seasoning is when I make sausage gravy for my biscuits and gravy and in chicken n dumplings. I do keep a can of black pepper in the spice cabinet for that. Otherwise it's just a few grinds from the mill just before serving, like on eggs. Mostly just eggs now that I think about it, I rarely add pepper to anything else except maybe salad.
 
TastyReuben said:
I was going to say, you better have a lot of black pepper on hand for biscuits and gravy. That gravy has to be good and peppered.
Click to expand...
Barriehie said:
For sure! It -has- to have visible pepper grinds or your cookin' card is revoked.
Click to expand...
Agreed! I didn't know there was any other way! But my arm would be sore from grinding if I used the mill. My sister-in-law has an electric one. The canned is fine for sausage gravy IMO.
 
TastyReuben said:
A lot of people even call it pepper gravy.
Click to expand...
I have seen people make white gravy with pepper and no sausage, which I get for making chicken fried steak. But I have seen it on breakfast buffets next to fresh biscuits for biscuits and gravy, sheesh. No sausage is always a disappointment. Sometimes they will have sausage patties in a warming tray so I chop them up and mix them into the gravy, but it's just not the same.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom