Homestead Education Channel is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.
One of the staples of any pantry is black pepper. It is such a versatile and useful spice.
It makes soups, stews, and meat taste better, it makes vegetables taste different, and
sometimes, even fruit can benefit from a dash of pepper. Like most foods, pepper has
always had a specific use. However, pepper is such an in depth spice with health
benefits and uses beyond just adding flavor to a meal.
Many every day foods have health benefits that aren’t fully known or understood. Take
kale as an example. Recently, kale became a superfood because of the previously
unknown vitamins, antioxidants, and health boosting benefits. Even something that has
been avoided for most of the last 100 years has recently found itself to be vital to the
overall health of the human body: fat. So, it comes as little surprise that something that
has been used for centuries has a secret life.
Black pepper has been in use as a spice since at least 2,000BC. It has roots in India,
but was also used in Egypt, the Roman Empire, and Medieval Europe. Black pepper
was a major trade item, and was highly desired by anyone with status and money. Black
pepper was a prize gained in war, as well. For 4,000 years, pepper has been almost as
desired as gold, silver, and precious stones. It has been mentioned in many movies,
including Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, it’s just a spice. The health benefits are no
longer common knowledge; people either like it, or they don’t.
Some of the health benefits include antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, improved
brain function, helps control blood sugar, helps lower cholesterol, helps fight cancer,
helps the body absorb nutrients, helps gut health, pain relief, and can even reduce the
appetite. There are more benefits to eating black pepper, but this is a pretty
comprehensive list.
Pepper’s spice comes from piperine. Piperine is an antioxidant that will fight the free
radicals in the body that can cause all kinds of health issues, including cancer, heart
disease, and high blood pressure. However, black pepper does not contain capsaicin,
which is what gives chili peppers their spicy flavor.
Chili peppers have another long list of health benefits that are amazing on their own.
Capsaicin, the chemical that makes them spicy, has antimicrobial, antiseptic,
antihypertensive, antioxidant, analgesic and other properties. Capsaicin mixed with
piperine creates a fantastic spice that hosts a powerhouse at the cellular level.
Using pepper daily can help increase antioxidants and fight off the diseases that run
rampant in the world. A healthy diet full of fruits, veggies, whole grains, dairy, and meats
can prolong life and it tastes pretty good, too. Fast food, ready to eat foods at home,
and anything fast and easy is not going to be a great option to keep your health optimal. Eating food fresh from the farm is going to benefit the body in many ways, and using spices that complement each other and have properties that are extra beneficial will help the body.
Nothing is a guarantee, of course, but adding pepper and chilis to a regular diet will
help. There are even topical medications containing capsaicin that help relieve sore
muscles, arthritis, and general joint pain. Be cautious when using these, however.
Capsaicin can burn the skin quite easily, especially if the product contains a high
concentration of capsaicin.
Black pepper tastes like black pepper. No matter what it’s in, it has a distinct flavor that
doesn’t normally burn the mouth, unless there is a lot of pepper in a food. Other spices
will change how the overall dish will taste, but pepper will still stand alone. Chili
peppers, on the other hand, have distinct flavors, but most importantly, they have their
very own heat scale. The Scoville scale measures the amount of heat that is in a
specific chili. The concentrated capsaicin is measured, and the result is a number that
grows with the heat.
The mildest chili on the planet is a sweet chili. It is so mild that many people eat them
every single day and don’t even realize they are eating a chili. Bell Peppers are green,
red, and yellow, with a few varieties thrown in, and they have a sweet crunch that is
delicious raw, in salads, and in a lot of cooked foods. There are over 4,000 chili
varieties, with bell peppers at the very bottom of the spicy spectrum. A jalapeño falls
into the mild part of the scale. At 5,000 Scoville Units, it sounds like it should be deadly
hot, but on a simpler scale, say 1-10, jalapeños would only rate a 1.5. Most people can
eat a jalapeño with very little problem. In fact, they are in most salsas and they are often
eaten as a jalapeño popper, which is a jalapeño stuffed with cream cheese.
Some of the chilis readily available in a grocery store are Serrano, Jalapeño, Banana
Peppers, Poblano, Thai, Anaheim, and Thai. A few stores may carry a few other
varieties, but they are usually in the 0-5,000 range. Some stores regularly carry
habanero peppers, which are up in the 100,000-300,000 range. On the simpler 1-10
scale from earlier, this would rate around an 8.
The hottest chili pepper that is readily available is called the Carolina Reaper. This chili
rates in the 1.4-2.2 million range on the Scoville scale. On the 1-10 scale, this would
rate about 11. The newest chili is called Pepper X. This chili pepper is over 3 million on
the Scoville scale and is not readily available.
There are contests all across the world that dare people to eat gradually hotter chili
peppers. They may start with an everyday, mild jalapeño, but they will work their way up
to those deadly, top of the scale chilis, to see who can withstand the most heat. There
are medical personnel and heat neutralizers ready for those who aren’t able to handle
the worst heats.
Capsaicin is a powerful heat. When it is concentrated, it can become an extremely
powerful weapon that will incapacitate an attacker in less than a second. Pepper spray
has been used for decades to prevent personal attacks and to keep dangerous animals,
such as bears, away. After learning about the hottest pepper on the planet, Pepper X,
someone may think that pepper spray is nothing like that. However, pepper spray starts
at 10 million Scoville Units. This spray can cause intense damage to a body. It is also
extremely effective.
When considering which spice to add to a meal, pepper is always a good bet. If heat is
desired, work up to the hotter ones. Jalapeños or Habaneros are both quite tasty and
have a heat that can easily be neutralized with a glass or ten of milk. Use them lightly in
food, and look into which fruits and veggies will pair well with them. The health benefits
will take some time to develop, but the flavor is already there.
For a new and interesting take on combining black pepper and chilis, check out my
website: ironycreek.com.
Photos courtesy of Michele Mead
Here at http://homesteadeducationchannel.com/, we are dedicated to helping you find resources, education, and information regarding all aspects of the homesteading lifestyle.
