Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Pink Pepper along with all the Pink Pepper containing recipes presented on this site, with 3 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain as a major flavouring.

Pink peppercorns are the fruit of two species of South American shrubs Schinus terebinthifolius or Schinus molle both members of the Anacardiaceae (cashew) family. The plants are dioeceous (ie have separate male and female flowers), with small white flowers borne profusely in axillary clusters from which the red fruit develop.

The fruit are peppercorn-sized and are typically sold dried (though pink peppercorns pickled in brine are available). Though they are often called pink peppercorns or pink peppers, the do not have any 'heat' (in fact the comparison to peppers is a matter of size). In terms of sensory quality pink peppers are sweet and aromatic, reminiscent of a mild juniper berry.

The main aromatic contents of the dried berries are mono­terpene hydro­carbons, composed of Δ3-carene, α-pinene, α-phell­andrene, limonene, p-cymene and β-phell­andrene (in descending order). The fruit also contains a considerable amount of sugar (which accounts for its sweet taste). The berries of Schinus terebinthifolius have been reported as causing respiratory ailments and irritation of the mucous membranes. This may be because in Florida, where the species has become invasive, the fruit may contain urushiol-type allergens and cardanoles. However, the spice grown on the island of Réunion (the main producer) is entirely free of urushiols. But many entries describing pink peppercorns often have a warning about the toxicity or allergenicity of pink peppercorns. This, however, does not apply to commercial preparations.

There has also been some confusion about the two types of pink peppercorns. And some sources separate them into red peppercorns (Schinus terebinthifolius) and pink peppercorns (Schinus molle). This can be confusing with true red peppercorns (ripe black pepper fruit). But, with no better segregation in English I have used the same convention here.

Red Pepper: (also known as Brazilian Pepper, Aroeira, Christmasberry, Pink peppercorns, or Florida Holly) is not actually a pepper at all. Rather, it is the dried fruit of Schinus terebinthifolius a sprawling shrub or small tree some 7—10 m tall that is native to subtropical and tropical South America, in southeastern Brazil, northern Argentina and Paraguay. The fruit is a small red spherical drupe 4–5 mm diameter, carried in dense clusters of hundreds of berries. Though native to South America, the largest commercial producer of pink peppercorns is the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

Pink Peppercorns: These are the fruit of the closely related species Schinus molle (Baies Rose, Peruvian Pepper, California pepper tree, molle, pepper tree, pepperina, Peruvian mastictree and Peruvian peppertree), originally from Peru, but now grown in Mauritius, is also used in a similar manner (but are more typically known as 'pink peppercorns'), do not contain the allergens that Schinus terebinthifolius fruit do and most red or pink peppers now tend to be Schinus molle. The Inca used the sweet outer part of the fruit to make a drink by rubbing the berries to remove the outer skin before straining the mixture and leaving for a few days. The fruit skins were also boiled down to make a syrup which could then be mixed with maize meal to form a gruel. Schinus molle is also grown in Turkey and around the Mediterranean.

The fruits of Schinus molle are larger than those of Schinus terebinthifolius, but are not commonly available as a spice. The use of pink peppercorns in cookery is fairly new and they are typically used for decorative effects. They are not peppercorns and do not lend piquancy to a dish. Instead they are fruity and aromatic. As a result pink peppercorns are better suited to cooking with vegetables or for use in garnishes (pink peppercorn butter is excellent for use with fish and asapragus). Pink peppercorn vinegar also makes an excellent base for a vinaigrette.