Add some extra zing in your recipes by adding a different kind of pepper to your favorite dishes. There are four different pepper varieties, though they are really from the same plant.

Green peppercorns are treated with sulphur dioxide to preserve their green color. They are not usually dried, but preserved in salt, brine, or vinegar.  They can also be frozen, dehydrated, and freeze-dried. They have a mild flavor and can be eaten whole, without grinding.

The mainstay of the pepper family is black pepper and has a strong flavor. Green peppercorns are picked, boiled briefly, then spread to dry. As they dry, the peppercorns turn black. They are sold whole for grinding in a pepper mill or commercially ground and put in tins. 

For white pepper, there are two methods. In one method, green peppercorns are soaked in water for several days so that the flesh of the berry can be removed by rubbing. The inner seed is then ground into white pepper or dried and used whole. Another method, removes the outer layer of the dried black peppercorn, then ground or used whole. White pepper has a milder pepper flavor and is often used in white sauces or with fish or poultry where the black flakes would mar the appearance of a sauce or dish.

Pink pepper is very rare. It comes from the ripe pepper berries that are red in color. These peppercorns are then preserved in brine and vinegar.

Pink peppercorns are not real peppercorns, but the ripe fruit of the Baies Rose or the Brazilian or Peruvian pepper tree (which aren’t true pepper plants).  They have a mild pepper flavor and come packed in brine or water, or are freeze dried.

Both pink pepper and pink peppercorns are too soft to grind but are used whole in sauces, egg dishes, salads, or with rich meats or fish. When you use pink peppercorns, follow the recipe amounts closely. Too much can cause tummy upset.