VIII 



PEPPERS 289 



younger, green fruits do not commence to wither for 

 some time after they are gathered, being indeed still 

 alive for a day or two. Plunging into boiling water kills 

 them immediately, after which they quickly commence 

 to blacken. 



During the process of drying, in whatever way, the 

 pepper must be constantly turned over, and care taken 

 that no mildew appears. 



White Pepper. As this is merely the ripened seeds 

 of the pepper deprived of skin and pulp, in order to 

 obtain a good quality the gathering of the spikes is 

 delayed till nearly all on the spikes are showing a red 

 colour, if possible. The fruits, however, on the same 

 spike ripen so irregularly that this cannot always be 

 done. 



The ordinary method adopted by the Chinese for 

 making white pepper is, first, to detach the fruits from 

 the branches by pressing them underfoot. The berries 

 are then put into large bags and allowed to soak for a 

 week or ten days in water. Where possible, a running 

 stream in full sun is used, but open water-holes are more 

 commonly made for this work. The heat and moving 

 water, however, accelerate the decomposition of the skin 

 and pulp, and so streams are preferred. When the skins 

 are sufficiently loose and soft the pepper is put into tubs, 

 where it is stamped underfoot in a little water, and 

 washed till all the skins, pulp, and stalks are detached. 

 The peppercorns are then taken out of the tub and put 

 to dry in the sun on mats. J. Bosscha (in Teysmannia, 

 1900, No. 2) suggests that it is better to make troughs 

 of brickwork or hard wood, through which the stream 

 can be allowed to run slowly, and to carry off the waste 

 pulp, stalks, etc., which are lighter than the seeds. 



White pepper is also made from dried black pepper 

 in England by milling it in a special machine made for 

 the purpose. The machine consists of a rotating stone 

 enclosed in a wire-covered circular box. The pepper is 

 thrown against the wire netting by the stone, and re- 

 bounds. By this method the skin is gradually rubbed 



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