Author: Anne Ewbank / Source: Atlas Obscura
In order to add some color to their spice cabinets, people have been turning to pink peppercorns for decades. But in the 1980s, they were culinary newcomers, a colorful emblem of French nouvelle cuisine that took the food world by storm. Dishes at the time needed to be fresh, light, and colorful. The pink peppercorn was perfect. Prized by French chefs, their vibrant, intriguing color led American cooks to add it to pepper grinders as a rainbow accompaniment or as a rosy take on steak au poivre. As restauranteur Gordon Smith declared to the Chicago Tribune: “Pink peppercorns are the spice of the ’80s.”
But even six months into the 1980s, food journalist Nao Hauser spied a less-than-rosy future for the pretty spice. For one thing, it’s not actually pepper. Rather, it’s the near-identical berry of two types of South American plants. The flavor is only slightly peppery, and its flaky texture means it needs to be crushed instead of ground up. Since actual pepper fruits do ripen to red during their growing process, the confusion is understandable. But Hauser likened the in-demand pink peppercorn to a “princess with faked credentials.”
For a time, no one looked too closely at the pink peppercorn’s past. Until, that is, two plant researchers told the world they were potentially toxic.
Sandra Hicks, an herb consultant for the University of Michigan, came across the chic spice at a restaurant. Curious as to its origins, her research led her to University of Miami botanist Julia Morton’s research on the schinus terebinthifolius, or the Brazilian peppertree: the source of pink peppercorns. In a paper, Morton had determined that the peppertree was cousin to poison ivy, and that the fruit of the peppertrees flourishing across Florida were better avoided, much less eaten.
The New York Times published a laundry list of potential effects: “symptoms similar to those caused by poison ivy, as well as violent headaches, swollen eyelids, shortness of breath, chest pains, sore throat, hoarseness, upset…The post When People Panicked Over Pink Peppercorns appeared first on FeedBox.