We spend a lot of time thinking about how our mood affects our cravings. Every Monday, we share some of what goes on inside Cookthink as we’re analyzing recipes for the Cookthink database. With watercress the subject of this week’s Root Source, today we’re looking at what makes something “peppery.”

“Peppery” is one of our favorite flavor tags, because it can mean so many different things: hot, piquant, fiery, stinging. Peppery as in black pepper, red pepper, chile peppers or a more abstract type of pepperiness that lurks in dark, spicy greens like watercress and arugula.

Brys thinks of “peppery” as “a physical affect in the mouth, somewhere between flavor and mouthfeel.” Claire thinks of “peppery” as “something that feels awake.” Maybe that’s why the dictionary notes that the brisk energy and high spirits we call “pep” is just a nickname for pepper.

Mood tags help set Cookthink apart from other recipe databases, because they give you the ability to search for recipes based on tastes and flavors rather than the standard ingredients/cuisines/dish types. A search for “peppery” can return an interesting cross-section of recipes and definitions of peppery that goes beyond the usual limitations of recipe search. So the same “peppery” tag can mean different things in different recipes.

Search the Cookthink tool for “peppery,” and you won’t just find classic black pepper-dependent dishes like Steak Au Poivre. You’ll also find Poblano Salsa Verde — a sauce that gets its spicy heat from green poblano chile peppers. And Chicken Paprikash, which gets its two-toned pepperiness from the combination of sweet red bell peppers and hot ground paprika, the everyday pepper condiment of Hungary.

Black, white and green peppercorns make a vibrant coating for Peppercorn-Roasted Chicken Breasts. Smoked Salmon With Pink Peppercorns delivers a more subtle peppercorn experience. Strawberries Tossed in Peppered Raspberry Vinegar offer pepperiness where you might least expect it. And an Arugula Salad With Lemon And Olive Oil or Watercress Salad With Lemon-Parsley Vinaigrette are peppery green salads that work well with a rich main course and offer what Brys calls the “tongue-numbing, round, bitterish quality” found in bitter greens.

To enhance the standard pepperiness of everyday salt and pepper seasoning, Cookthink always turns to red pepper flakes. The heat of capsaicin found in red pepper flakes “points up” the taste of ingredients they season. So, no matter what tastes and flavors you have going on in a dish, a pinch of red pepper flakes will help clarify and those tastes and flavors without necessarily adding a lot of heat.

Reference: What is paprika? (Cookthink)
Reference: Measuring freshly ground black pepper (Cookthink)
Reference: Why does Cookthink use red pepper flakes in so many recipes? (Cookthink)

Posted by kristin in craving, mood of the week | | Subscribe to this feed