BLACK PEPPERCORNS are known in India as the King of Spices. Black pepper is produced from the green unripe berries of the pepper plant. The berries are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The berries are then dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which time the fruit around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer around the seed. Once dried, the fruits are called black peppercorns. Good on just about everything, even strawberries!
