salt & pepper

[Anonymous No.19607760]

It maybe is a retarded question, but why is pepper the "basic" spice ? Why not for example cumin, or ginger ?

[Anonymous No.19607768]

The Roman Empire.

[Anonymous No.19607793]

>>19607760
because you can't put cumin or ginger on everything you retard, you can but pepper almost on everything

[Anonymous No.19607805]

>>19607793
what do you mean, like morally?

[Anonymous No.19607809]

I get salt. It's available at the coasts and/or in mines and preserves food but pepper is still a mystery to me. Maybe because it adds more of a subtle spiciness than chilies?

[Anonymous No.19607840]

>>19607805
like fr ong ngl

[Anonymous No.19607854]

>>19607760
>It maybe is a retarded question
Not at all; Pliny asked the same question 2,000 years ago:

>It is quite surprising that the use of pepper has come so much into fashion, seeing that in other substances which we use, it is sometimes their sweetness, and sometimes their appearance that has attracted our notice; whereas, pepper has nothing in it that can plead as a recommendation to either fruit or berry, its only desirable quality being a certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper

Pliny was also the originator of the original soyboy memes, mocking ancient proto-Redditors for their obsession with CONSVMING the latest hot spices.

A naive guess is that it's because peppercorns can retain their potency for a long time in the raw state compared to other spice sources; they needn't be refrigerated or pickled, just kept dry until grinding, comparatively easy to ship.

[Anonymous No.19608307]

>>19607809
>pepper is still a mystery to me
It makes many foods taste much better. You probably can't make a sauce worth having without some pepper involved.

[Anonymous No.19608314]

Pepper is a flavor enhancer like salt. It doesn't fuck with the flavor of meat like cumin would.
>all these utterly clueless americans itt
Go back to posting in your goyslop threads you fucking cooklets.

[Anonymous No.19608741]

>>19607760
I've wondered the same thing. Salt is pretty neutral, it just makes things saltier. In the same way that sugar doesn't really have a flavour, it just makes things sweeter. But pepper definitely does have a flavour; it's kinda savoury/hot?

[Anonymous No.19608752]

>>19607760
>>19607854
I'd say it's the opposite reason today. Middle Age cooking for the wealthy used excessive amounts of sweet and savory spices in every dish. Even by the 18th century wealthy households still kept a blend of "kitchen pepper." Black pepper simple became cheap and widely available and boomers incapable of preserving anything stopped making blends of other spices.

[Anonymous No.19610071]

>>19607760
because it tastes good

[Anonymous No.19610094]

>>19607760
Real talk, where does anon buy their black pepper? Years ago I accidentally got some dago-ass gourmet pepper from the supermarket and it fuckin' CHANGED THE GAME, it was so flavorful, so aromatic, it was nothing like the burnt gray ash that we had been dutifully sprinkling on our McDonald's Big Breakfast scrambled eggs for fifty years because that's why grandpa did, it was like "OK, this is why Europe built slave ships". Black pepper is everywhere but it is almost universally SHIT and wtf soyboy hotsauce subreddit do I need to follow to get the dank 'corns.

[Anonymous No.19610149]

>>19608314
>Pepper is a flavor enhancer like salt. It doesn't fuck with the flavor of meat like cumin would.
Freshly ground black pepper has a lot of flavor. It's not like salt at all.

[Anonymous No.19610872]

>>19610149
Are you seriously telling me that black pepper has flavor? Really nigga?

Kill yourself.

[Anonymous No.19610883]

>>19607760
probably because it's cheap, gives a clean, sometimes woody spicyness, and doesn't impart potentially discordant flavor notes to standard Diner food.
>>19607768
No, that would be GARUM, Roman fish sauce.

[Anonymous No.19610888]

>>19607760
cumin or chilli in place of a pepper shaker at restaurants is common in many parts on earth
pepper is just a western thing, it really depends on what you are eating it with i guess,

[Anonymous No.19610891]

>>19607760
Pepper is piquant but has a comparatively mild flavor profile next to other spices. Moderate amounts won't drastically alter the taste and aroma of the dish.

[Anonymous No.19610893]

>>19607854
>they needn't be refrigerated or pickled, just kept dry until grinding,
Same can be said for nutmeg...which was it's competition until around the mid-1800s.
i had completely forgotten about nutmeg until townsends, it has an almost citrusy flavor..no spice though.
Making a Chix pot pie with only salt pepper and nutmeg is surprisingly delicious.

[Anonymous No.19610898]

>>19610872
posts like this are so gay because all you're doing is proving that you've never had something good in your life. the reasonable reaction is to feel bad for you, not to get in some dumb little internet fight about it. go ahead, have a low opinion of a good thing. you're only fucking yourself.

[Anonymous No.19610904]

>>19608741
>But pepper definitely does have a flavour; it's kinda savoury/hot?
I guess it's kind of savory but I get more sweetness from it than anything. But it's still a far less dramatic aroma than say cinnamon or cumin or ginger.

[Anonymous No.19610948]

>>19607760
It's not a retarded question anon :)

[Anonymous No.19610995]

>>19610893
Made Spanakopita last night with a generous shake of nutmeg, some sea salt and pepper and it was fucking delicious.

[Anonymous No.19611211]

>>19608741
well that's all wrong.
salt enhances flavor, and also has a flavor. salt also masks bitterness.
sugar has a flavor and a smell.

[Anonymous No.19611562]

>>19610995
OOOH! Now that DOES sound great.
So many forgotten Mediterranean spices.
So little time.

[Anonymous No.19611572]

>>19608741
it's floral and slightly hot

[Anonymous No.19611583]

objectively there should be three standard table spices: salt, fenugreek and red pepper

[Anonymous No.19611639]

>>19610893
>>19610995
>t.

[Anonymous No.19611645]

>>19607760
Because it's the original "I put that sh*t on everything"

[Anonymous No.19611657]

It tastes good and is probably more versatile than most other spices.

[Anonymous No.19611744]

>>19610898
Kill yourself.

[Anonymous No.19611822]

>>19611639
CHORE manilito...Dees iz whoaye Ahhmmm.
Chu Gat Me SENIOR!