Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Pepper, Butter Seasoned with {see Butter Seasoned with Pepper). Pepper, Cayenne, is a compound article, the chief ingredient of which is the epidermis and pulp of the common capsicum, a plant much cultivated in most tropical climates. The best cayenne pepper is manufactured in the West Indies. " The berries, which are often larger than an egg, although other varieties are scarcely larger than a clove, are opened, and the seeds are taken out : the scarlet epidermis and pulp are then well beaten up with flour and salt into a paste, which is afterwards baked until quite hard, and then ground into a coarse powder, which is put into well-corked bottles for use. Other methods are used, but this is the mode of preparing the much-prized West India cayenne pepper." Cayenne pepper has become a necessary article at table, and is highly esteemed for its flavour and the quality it is supposed to possess of aiding the digestion of fish and other kinds of food. One may reasonably question whether indulgence in this powerful spice is conducive to health, for though cayenne pepper, like highly-flavoured Indian soys, may occasionally assist digestion, it would perhaps be better for persons of weak digestion to abstain from food requiring a vigorous stomach, than to employ artificial stimulants. The capsicum from which cayenne pepper is mostly obtained is a native of the East and West Indies, where it grows readily with very little care. " There are," says Dr. Yeats, " numerous species of capsicum, named after the form and colour of the pod, which varies considerably. All are, however, included under the Mexican name of chiUies. In tropical countries chillies are used in great quantities, the consumption as a condiment being almost universal, and nearly equal to that of salt. In India they are the principal ingredients in all curries, and form the only seasoning which the millions of the poor of that country can obtain to eat with their insipid rice. Capsiciuns or chillies are imported into this country in the form of red and brown pods, which are broken, dried, and packed in bales, weighing 2^ cwt., principally for making pepper." Pepper Gherkins.— Choose the gherkins of uniform size, and not more than two inches long. Cover with salt, and leave them until the next day, then wipe each one singly with a cloth, and put them into jars. Cover with boiling vinegar, and allow a dozen bay-leaves, a sprig of tarragon, a quarter of an ounce of black peppercorns, an ounce and a quarter of salt, two smaU blades of mace, and two shallots, to each quart of vinegar. Cover the jars, and leave them for three days ; then drum off the vinegar, boil it up, let it get quite cold, pour it once more over the gherkins, and tie the jars securely down with bladder. Store in a cool dry place. Probable cost, -uncertain. Pepper, Long, is the product of a plant found in the Crrcar mountains, where it is gathered in its wild state. It is imported into England from Bengal, but in inconsiderable quantities, as the qualities of long pepper are analogous to those of white pepper. It is a favourite in some culinary operations, particularly in making pickles.