Though most of us use it every day, many know little about pepper, a spice derived from the peppercorn, which is actually a fruit produced by the flowers of a vine.
Pepper is native to South India and Asia but is grown commercially in many tropical areas, in particular in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is a major producer.
Used for thousands of years both as a taste enhancer and medicine, pepper has the honour of being billed as the most-traded spice.
As a sign of how important it was and how widely traded, pepper from India reached Egypt before 1213 BCE, as it was found in the nostrils of the mummified Ramesses II who died in that year.
It was also known in Greece by 400 BCE and has similarly long trading histories in Rome,…
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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue #11.6 - 2021