"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 5/13/2013 12:31 AM, sf wrote:
>> On Sun, 12 May 2013 16:24:43 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> I've been buying the Tellicherry black peppercorns at Costco.
>>
>> What is the BFD about "Tellicherry" peppercorns? I've bought unnamed
>> black peppercorns and I've bought "Tellicherry"... not because I
>> wanted to buy them, but because that's what Costco sells. I don't
>> understand why people feel the need to name it. It's pepper. Period.
>>
> What I don't understand is the obsession with "expiration" dates. She
> wrote, "What I had, expired. I think maybe in 2011?" (This isn't the
> first time she's brought up expiration dates.)
>
I was led to check the date on the pepper because I noticed that I was
having to use more and more of it to get the taste that I preferred. Herbs
and spices do lose their flavor over time. There wasn't much pepper left in
the container so I tossed it, bought more and put the new stuff in my
grinder.

My mom always had really old spices as did my MIL. Neither of them pay any
mind to dates. I do. Because my mom always had weak spices, I would wind
up using sometimes twice the amount to get the right flavor and when it
comes to some things, this can lead to textural problems. Such as what
happened with my pepper. The food had a gritty quality to it because I had
put so much pepper in! As a kid, I made the mistake of buying a new
container of ground ginger and using twice as much of it! The cookies I
made with it were so spicy as to be inedible.

I had another expired product today. Rotel mild seasoned tomato sauce.
Only expired in April. Seemed fine. Tomatoes are one product I am leery of
when expired because the texture in particular can deteriorate.

We used to think that canned goods lasted forever. But now more and more
sources are cautioning us not to use ones that are too old because not only
can the contents deteriorate but the can can break down and sicken us if we
eat the contents. I have in fact found rusted cans in my cupboard. This
was some time back. The offenders are often tomato products (not always
expired) but the worst one was mushrooms! There was no date on those cans
so they may well have been pretty old. I will no longer buy canned
mushrooms. The can had rusted clear through and the contents had begun to
seep out.

> Yes, peppercorns and spices in general do lose potency over a long period
> of time, sure. I don't see any reason to freak out or throw them away
> because of some random date printed on a package.
>
I didn't freak out. But they *had* in fact lost their potency as I said
above. The loss of potency is what led me to check the jar. And when I
verified that the pepper was in fact old, I replaced it. The new jar seems
to be some smaller than the old one but since I don't have the old one to
compare, I guess I'll never know. Anyway... The pepper was cheap so no
biggie.

> Think of the time it took to transport spices from the Orient back in the
> day (Marco Polo, anyone?). I'm pretty sure no one on the ship was saying,
> "Hope for a good strong breeze, lads, these peppercorns are going to
> expire!" LOL

Well, you can eat all of the expired pepper that you want! I happen to
prefer mine to be fresh. It just tastes better.