Blog Archives
Spices 101: What is Sansho Pepper?
Recently we went over the interesting quirks behind black pepper, and how it’s not really a pepper but really more of a berry, and how they start off as these weird little green things, and so on and so forth. You may remember that red peppercorns weren’t really technically peppercorns, but were instead a similar berry from a different plant. Today we’re going to learn about yet another look-alike (taste-alike?) of black pepper, sansho pepper.
Sansho
Origin: Japan
Appearance: Light green powder OR small green berries
Scent: Fruity, zesty
Taste: Citric, spicy, warm
Foods: Japanese, other Asian
Rareness: Rare
Spices 101: What is Pepper?
Go to your dining table right now. Go look at your place setting. What are the two things that always must be there. That’s right salt, and pepper. And don’t tell me you don’t have salt and pepper, because everybody knows a real dining table’s gotta have salt and pepper shakers. If you don’t have ’em, buy ’em. But hey, what is salt and pepper, exactly?
Actually I take that back, everyone knows what salt is. It’s salt. It’s made of sodium and chlorine and turns into a cool, white crystal rock thing that makes all food taste better. But! Let’s be real, everyone here has seen pepper before, but most people like yourself are probably dying to know what it really is. Well, I’m glad you asked.
Black Pepper
Origin: India
Appearance: Very small, round, black berries
Scent: Fruity, spicy
Taste: Spicy, dark, pungent
Foods: Like everything ever
Rareness: Common
The Cereal Report: Holiday Sprinkles Cookie Crunch
The Cereal Report is a column in which PCFG conducts various cereal reviews, of new or limited products, as well as providing brief backgrounds on the cereal. Cereal is delicious and fairly cheap as far as meals go. Everyone should eat cereal!
The other day we took a look at Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, a pretty awesome, worthy cereal. General Mills releases it around Christmastime each year in tandem with another festively-themed breakfast food, Holiday Sprinkles Cookie Crunch. Unlike its brethren unfortunately, this one isn’t quite as good.
Christmastime Favorite: How To Make Wassail Pt. 2 – Recipe
We covered some of the history of spiced Christmas cider, known as wassail, in Part 1 of this article. Read up if you missed it, or read on for our recipe!
As some of you may know, PCFG will be providing free wassail at the Patchogue Village Wassailing Crawl this Saturday! If you live on Long Island and will be in the area, stop by and partake in some merriment as Long Island History and Pub continues a Christmas tradition that’s all but lost in the U.S. in modern times. You may learn a thing or two, and at very least it’ll help get into the Christmas spirit despite the surprisingly mild (and pleasant) season we’ve been having so far!
If you can’t make it, well there’s always the option of making it at home. Bear in mind, we will update this post at a later date with photos from the wassailing walk we’re attending on Saturday!
Spices 101: What is Cardamom?
Recently a ton of supermarkets closed down in the northeast, especially here on Long Island, resulting from their blanket corporation of A&P going out of business. It was really sad, considering how many people lost their jobs, and to see some old standbys like Waldbaums and Path-Mark close up shop, never to be seen again. Well, sometimes the best way to move past a tragedy is by finding any good you can in it. In this case, legendary clearance prices on all items. I hate to sound like classic consumerist American, but we were able to find some insane deals on food in the last few days when items were being discounted 70%, 80%, and even 95% off.
We took that opportunity to splurge on some cardamom pods, a staple curry ingredient which normally runs for, ohhhh, $15 a bottle. So yeah. Shit’s expensive.
Cardamom
Origin: India
Appearance: Small, green pods
Scent: Fruity, flowery, zesty
Taste: Sweet, zesty, fresh
Foods: Indian, Nordic European
Rareness: Rare
…son of a bitch I just realized these are 3 months out of date. Oh well. We got them for three bucks, as opposed to like $15.
The Poor Couple's Food Guide 
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