Colorful Mix of black, white, green and pink peppercorns to be freshly ground to garnish and flavor any dish.
Black, το white and green peppercorns come from the berries of the flowering vine Piper nigrum in the family Piperaceae. The vine produces fruits which become red or pink in color when the are fully ripe at about 5mm in diameter.
Pepper vines are native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Pepper was introduced to Europe when it was brought from India' s Malabar coast to Italy and Rome through the Red Sea and the Nile River during the time of the Roman Empire. Pepper was extremely valuable and expensive that it was even used as a currency for trading. It can often been found in references as ''black gold''.
Nowadays the main producers of pepper are India, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Vietnam which is the world' s largest producer and exporter, producing almost 40% of the world' s pepper.
To produce black pepper, the berries of the vine are harvested when they are still green and immature. After harvest, the berries are fermented and left to dry. During the drying process, the peppercorns shrink and their skin becomes dark and wrinkled.
White peppercorns come from the same plant as black peppercorns. When the berries are almost fully mature they are harvested and then soaked in water in order to remove the darker outer shell of the fruit. The water softens and decomposes the flesh of the berry, leaving only the white seed of the fruit. This is how white peppercorns are produced.
Green peppercorns are harvested when the berries of the vine are still green and immature. After harvest, the berries follow a process of freeze-drying and dehydration in order to preserve their green color.
Pink or red peppercorns are a different story. They are the dried berries of the Peruvian pepper tree, Schinus molle. Although they resemble peppercorns, they come from a different species. They are called ''peppercorns'' as they have the same round shape and peppery taste of black, white and green peppercorns that come from the genus Piper.