3 hours ago, liuzhou said:
Not necessarily. East Asia, especially China, uses white pepper for heat to this day. Sichuan hot and sour soup, for example, is still made using the traditional white pepper rather than chillies. There are many other such dishes.
Perhaps it would have been more clear to say that a Thai recipe using white peppercorns rather than chiles has ancient roots. Clearly, as you point out, such recipes persist.
In his chapter in 'Curry Cuisine', David Thompson writes, "The peppercorn is indigenous to this region and was the main spicing component before the arrival of the chili in the 16th century."
