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Favorite black pepper source?

paulraphael
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C. sapidus

C. sapidus

Posted
Posted

Soooo . . . I ordered a bunch of spices from Penzeys, including a big bag of the extra bold peppercorns. Received a notice that my credit card was declined (Penzeys must have had an old one on file). OK, no problem. Placed the order again, this time it went through.

 

I never received a confirmation of either order so I sent Penzeys an email. Received a robo-reply with no useful information.

 

Today, I received not one but two boxes from Penzeys. Yup, both orders went through. Never did receive an order confirmation.

 

I now have a years-long supply of extra bold peppercorns, Sarawak white peppercorns, green cardamom, cassia, canela, . . . :angry:

 

So you may be seeing a lot of Indian cooking from me. :laugh:

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Bruce, a.k.a C. sapidus

eG Foodblog: Crabs, borscht, and fish sauce

  • 2 weeks later...
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
On 5/26/2025 at 7:27 AM, KennethT said:

they have a selection of tons of different peppercorns - maybe 20-30 different varieties.  Myself, I'm partial to the Vietnamese for most everyday usage - it's sharp, spicy, all around good.

 

I made it up to Kalustyan's today to stock up on various peppercorns.  Just to bring it to others in pictures, here is one aisle...

 

IMG_4442.thumb.JPG.d1f7903531f8d65f27e560c9884f629d.JPG

 

IMG_4443.thumb.JPG.32b8edc1b8234cbd3ab2ecf700ebbccb.JPG

 

IMG_4444.thumb.JPG.eb559240807d01310e4918e8a050d3f6.JPG

 

Took me 1/2 hour to find the za'atar.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

I made it up to Kalustyan's today to stock up on various peppercorns.  Just to bring it to others in pictures, here is one aisle...

 

IMG_4442.thumb.JPG.d1f7903531f8d65f27e560c9884f629d.JPG

 

IMG_4443.thumb.JPG.32b8edc1b8234cbd3ab2ecf700ebbccb.JPG

 

IMG_4444.thumb.JPG.eb559240807d01310e4918e8a050d3f6.JPG

 

Took me 1/2 hour to find the za'atar.

Ha!  In general, they group everything first by category - so there's the peppercorn section, the chilli section, the individual spice section, spice mix section, etc. and then alphabetically.  Also, most of the employees are really well versed in the layout and can get you there really quickly.  For a while now, they've also had a growing Modernist section!

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, KennethT said:

Ha!  In general, they group everything first by category - so there's the peppercorn section, the chilli section, the individual spice section, spice mix section, etc. and then alphabetically.  Also, most of the employees are really well versed in the layout and can get you there really quickly.  For a while now, they've also had a growing Modernist section!

 

Yep, they undoubtedly help. My haul:

 

IMG_4445.thumb.jpeg.278c8c8a861273da059b3a2e12286ce9.jpeg

 

Mostly small sizes, so I can see what we like and we don't.  Not shown, a "fresh" product which I learned I really don't like: Turkish delight.

 

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Yep, they undoubtedly help. My haul:

 

IMG_4445.thumb.jpeg.278c8c8a861273da059b3a2e12286ce9.jpeg

 

Mostly small sizes, so I can see what we like and we don't.  Not shown, a "fresh" product which I learned I really don't like: Turkish delight.

 

What is their Za'atar like?  Years ago, my wife brought some home from a trip to Israel and it was wonderful - it was fresh, so the spices weren't truly dried - they were still damp and it had a great freshness to it.

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, KennethT said:

What is their Za'atar like?  Years ago, my wife brought some home from a trip to Israel and it was wonderful - it was fresh, so the spices weren't truly dried - they were still damp and it had a great freshness to it.

 

They have 3 or 4 different varieties of Za'atar - I like the Lebanese stuff, but it is definitely different than what you had from Israel, and what a friend brought back for me from Israel.

I usually use it to make pita crisps, or to sprinkle on hummus or yogurt.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

They have 3 or 4 different varieties of Za'atar - I like the Lebanese stuff, but it is definitely different than what you had from Israel, and what a friend brought back for me from Israel.

I usually use it to make pita crisps, or to sprinkle on hummus or yogurt.

I bought some za'atar recently on a whim, not knowing what exactly to do with it. Last night I made a NYT recipe called Easy Chickpea Salad with Za'atar. It was really delicious and, in fact, easy. The recipe suggests eating it with a warm pita, which would be very nice I'm sure, or rice, but I decided to have it with warm bulgur, and that was perfect. I didn't see the advantage of using vinegar in addition to the lemon juice, so I just used lemon juice to taste.  Oh, and I added an extra sprinkle of Aleppo pepper.

Edited by Katie Meadow (log)
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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

I've only ever used generic supermarket peppercorns. Spurred on by the comments here, I thought I'd broaden my horizons...

 

Kampot.thumb.png.4959268171efb466d9f5c60711b2f814.png

 

Well, night and day, innit? Thanks.

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Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

I've only ever used generic supermarket peppercorns. Spurred on by the comments here, I thought I'd broaden my horizons...

 

Kampot.thumb.png.4959268171efb466d9f5c60711b2f814.png

 

Well, night and day, innit? Thanks.

Source, please.

 ... Shel


 

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