BLACK PEPPER whole peppercorns

$3 regular package contains 1.1 ounces (10 teaspoons)

$7 package contains 3.3 ounces (3 times the regular package)

$12 package contains 6.6 ounces (6 times the regular package)

For the maximum flavor available only from whole peppercorns put these into your table grinder and twist away.

Black peppercorns are actually unripe green fruits (berries) that have been sun-dried after fermenting. Black, white and green peppers all come from the woody tropical plant Piper nigrum.

An exorbitant price was levied on pepper during the Middle Ages.  Italy had a monopoly on the trade and this was as one of the inducements which led the Portuguese to seek a sea route to India. In 1498, Vasco da Gama became the first person to reach India by sailing around Africa.

When asked by Arabs (who spoke Spanish and Italian) why they had come, his representative replied, "we seek Christians and spices".