Grains de poivre noir

Botanically known as Piper Nigrum, black pepper is the world's most traded and consumed spice, and with good reason. It tastes great and adds a mild but spicy kick to many dishes. Its versatility is quite unmatched and it's hard to find a savory dish that doesn't at least call for black pepper to taste. Black pepper is used in cooking worldwide for so many recipes you could easily write a book on its many uses across the globe. Take the classic French Steak au Poivre—this dish certainly wouldn't be the same without black pepper. 

Here at Slofoodgroup, we find whole black pepper to be an especially phenomenal addition to red meats, stews, wild game (such as venison), salads, and roasted potatoes. We avoid using black peppercorns with fish and other seafood, using white pepper, instead. That's not to say you should pull black pepper from your favorite recipe if it suits your fancy–the glorious thing about culinary arts is every chef can take the liberty to add or eliminate ingredients as they see fit. A little salt and pepper go a long way in really bringing out the flavor in food that it would be a culinary shame to cook without. One might even say, food would be bland and boring without salt or pepper.