Break free from black pepper

I’ve always been a big fan of black pepper – it’s warmth and earthiness are comforting to me. Perhaps I like it so much because almost everything I ate as a kid was liberally sprinkled with this spice. Strange as I might find it, there are plenty of people who don’t like pepper or are allergic to it. So what’s a girl who was born with a pepper grinder in her hand to do to please her guests who don’t eat black pepper? Dale Berning Sawa has some great ideas.

The first thing to remember is that pepper, unlike salt, is not a flavor enhancer but rather a spice in its own right. The practice of putting pepper on every kind food is a bit strange if you think about it, and it rankles many food writers. “We don’t add cumin or paprika to every single dish, so why should we add pepper?” said Emma Christensen of The Kitchn.

Once you decouple pepper from the salt shaker its easy to come up with suitable substitutes. If it’s heat you are after, add a dash of Tabasco or other piquant sauce, or add a pinch of a mild pepper like pul biber or Aleppo pepper. You can even use Sichuan pepper, which is not in the same family as the plant that produces black pepper. Mustard and horseradish add bite, as do ‘peppery’ greens like arugula (rocket). Paprika can add a hint of smokiness. I find that a dash of nutmeg is often a winner with its woodsy flavor.

There is no one item that replaces pepper in every dish, so feel free to poke around in your spice drawer until you find a spice that has the characteristic of pepper that is most important to the dish you are making. After a bit of experimentation, you might find that the urge to reach for the pepper grinder becomes less pronounced.