Squash and Carrot Soup Recipe, Spotlight on Turmeric, Add a Microplane Grater to Your Kitchen, Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Turmeric Properties, and Limiting Dangerous Downtime I love a dish that’s easy to make yet tastes complex with layers of flavor and, even better, is also comforting on a cold day. The first recipe in this issue […]
The Ultimate Guacamole Recipe, Spotlight on Cumin, Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Actually Keeping Your New Year’s Resolution While avocado toast has had its moment in the foodie spotlight, avocados have always been in style. I love topping avocado slices with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of Maldon salt. Their […]
Garlic- and Pepper-Crusted Beef Tenderloin Recipe, Spotlight on Black Peppercorns, How to Dry-age Beef at Home and Buying the Best Garlic Over the course of 20 years traveling the globe—originally as a food, wine, and travel writer and more recently as the Olive Oil Hunter®—I’ve marveled at the rich flavors I’ve experienced across dozens of […]
Ancient Indian and Egyptian cultures used peppercorns as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic. Rich in antimicrobial compounds, pepper acted as a preservative, too. Contemporary research has found that there’s science to back up those early practices, thanks primarily to the powerful compound piperine, the source of its spicy punch. It has enzymes that help the body better absorb both conventional and herbal medications—turmeric supplements often come with piperine for this reason. There’s even the possibility that it could play a role in the development of medications to combat illnesses as varied as Parkinson’s, cancer, and depression. According to studies in Phytotherapy Research and other journals, although research is still in the early stages (most has been done only in the lab), one day there could be value well beyond pepper’s great taste for making it an important part of the diet.
