I like assorted peppercorns. Right now on the kitchen table I've got
regular Malabar peppercorns, long pepper and szechuan peppercorns.

The long pepper came with its own custom grinder that's very coarse as
the corns are cyclindrical not spherical. Worchestershire seems to
have been an experiment to emulate the flavor of long pepper. Very mild
compared to Malabar pepper.

The Szechuan peppers came in bulk. They are the same size as Malbar
corns so I put them into a regular pepper mill. Grind and grind, almost
no effect. The corns are lighter or softer or something so they need a
settting that's more coarse. The coarsest setting on my regular
grinders was not enough. These peppercorns are floral and from a plant
not related to other pepper types.

Just what I need - An excuse to go to Sur La Table! ;^)

After inspecting every peppermill they have from $8 to $100+ I noticed
on sale one with a ceramic burr grindstone, a screw setting and a handle
that cranks back and forth across the top like a ratchet device. That
worked!

Last night on my slice of pork loin I put a generous dusting of Szechuan
pepper. Very delicious. The floral aroma goes well with pork and the
pepper like forground flavor does as well.

While at the store I noticed a type of seed I have not noticed before.
Black sesame. Species name Nigella Sativa. It says that in the UK it's
called Nigella. Sounds like Nigella Lawson was born to be a chef, if
that is her legal name. Named after an exotic spice. Describes the
reaction a lot of men have to her.

On 2012-12-31, Doug Freyburger > wrote:

> After inspecting every peppermill they have from $8 to $100+ I noticed
> on sale one with a ceramic burr grindstone, a screw setting and a handle
> that cranks back and forth across the top like a ratchet device. That
> worked!

Best pepper pulverizer:

http://importfood.com/mortarpestle.html

Works on any pepper and most everthing else, too.

nb

On Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:56:47 +0000 (UTC), Doug Freyburger
> wrote:

> While at the store I noticed a type of seed I have not noticed before.
> Black sesame. Species name Nigella Sativa. It says that in the UK it's
> called Nigella. Sounds like Nigella Lawson was born to be a chef, if
> that is her legal name. Named after an exotic spice. Describes the
> reaction a lot of men have to her.

I think she was named after the seed.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On 12/31/2012 2:39 PM, sf wrote:
> On Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:56:47 +0000 (UTC), Doug Freyburger
> > wrote:
>
>> While at the store I noticed a type of seed I have not noticed before.
>> Black sesame. Species name Nigella Sativa. It says that in the UK it's
>> called Nigella. Sounds like Nigella Lawson was born to be a chef, if
>> that is her legal name. Named after an exotic spice. Describes the
>> reaction a lot of men have to her.
>
> I think she was named after the seed.
>
She was named for her father - Nigel Lawson.

"Doug Freyburger" > wrote in message
...
Sounds like Nigella Lawson was born to be a chef, if
> that is her legal name. Named after an exotic spice. Describes the
> reaction a lot of men have to her.
>
Her father's name is Nigel.

On 12/31/2012 12:56 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:

>
> The Szechuan peppers came in bulk. They are the same size as Malbar
> corns so I put them into a regular pepper mill. Grind and grind, almost
> no effect. The corns are lighter or softer or something so they need a
> settting that's more coarse. The coarsest setting on my regular
> grinders was not enough. These peppercorns are floral and from a plant
> not related to other pepper types.

Szechuan pepper corns are usually stir fried. The recipes I have that
use them call for stir frying them in the hot oil before adding other
ingredients. They are not at all the same as Malabar peppercorns. The
flavor is different and they are really too soft, as you have
discovered, to be milled for table use. Try adding them to a chicken
stir fry.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

I use a coffee grinder. Can blast some fresh stuff right now. Never used szechuan but have made tons (well maybe not TONS) of different pepper powders. No as course as you would want i guess; but i know what your saying about the floral qualities of many peppers. Ground chilteqpin is my favorite heater; but ancho, pasilla and guajillo are great milds.

On 12/31/2012 3:49 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> On 12/31/2012 12:56 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:
>
>>
>> The Szechuan peppers came in bulk. They are the same size as Malbar
>> corns so I put them into a regular pepper mill. Grind and grind, almost
>> no effect. The corns are lighter or softer or something so they need a
>> settting that's more coarse. The coarsest setting on my regular
>> grinders was not enough. These peppercorns are floral and from a plant
>> not related to other pepper types.
>
> Szechuan pepper corns are usually stir fried. The recipes I have that
> use them call for stir frying them in the hot oil before adding other
> ingredients. They are not at all the same as Malabar peppercorns. The
> flavor is different and they are really too soft, as you have
> discovered, to be milled for table use. Try adding them to a chicken
> stir fry.
>
Szechuan peppers are not the same genus as regular peppers. I keep a
special grinder for them tho' a spice (err.. coffee mill) works. They
really do add a lot to recipes that call for them.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

James Silverton wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Szechuan pepper corns are usually stir fried. The recipes I have that
>> use them call for stir frying them in the hot oil before adding other
>> ingredients.

Sure, but I consider it fun to explore other uses.

>> The flavor is different

Given the floral aroma and the different source plant I expected them to
have a more different foreground flavor compared to Malbar peppercorns.
They somehow end up let's call it parallel in flavor.

>> and they are really too soft, as you have
>> discovered, to be milled for table use.
>
> I keep a
> special grinder for them tho' a spice (err.. coffee mill) works.

Yep. I discovered they can be milled just fine. It takes a mill with a
very coarse setting option.