Peppercorn sauce

We continue our stories about sauces - this time it is about the peppercorn sauce or, as it is called in French cuisine - Sauce Poivrade.

As its name suggests, the main ingredient of this sauce is peppercorn, one of the oldest spices in the world. It was already used by the Indians thousands of years ago, as proved by various Sanskrit texts. It entered European cuisine in the 6th century BC. The Romans accepted it very quickly - at first they mixed it with juniper berries to “lift” some poor dishes or to “disguise” bad meat.

In France, where peppercorn sauce originates, in the 18th century the governor decided that peppercorn would start to be planted on the island of Réunion and, thanks to this, it became less and less rare. Accordingly, its price began to drop and it became increasingly available.

Black, green, white…

Peppercorn is a drupe of the woody perennial plant Piper Nigrum which originates from India and belongs to the family of Piperaceae. It can reach a height of up to 15 meters, and it bears a full crop around the age of seven. The bunches of peppercorns are tiny, with fruits about 5 mm in diameter, and they grow like currants, in a fruiting body up to 14 cm long.

Contrary to popular belief, different colors of peppercorns do not mean they are other sorts of peppercorns. The corn can be red, yellow, or green, depending on how ripe they are. 

Black peppercorns are picked when the berries are ripe, and they turn dark after drying. Green peppercorns are picked before ripening. They can be bought dry or preserved in vinegar or brine. White peppercorn is picked when the berries are completely ripe. To reveal its white color, the husk is removed by treating it with salty water before drying.

La Sauce Poivrade

Peppercorn sauce or Sauce Poivrade is one of the classic dishes of French cuisine. It is made of mirepoix - a base of flavors made of diced and long-cooked root vegetables, usually with butter, oil, or other fat. When the mirepoix is cooked, it has to be thickened with flour, wine, and vinegar, and at the end, spiced up with a lot of ground peppercorn. It is great with all types of roasted and cooked meat, especially with crunchy roasted potatoes and some green salad.

You guessed it, like most French sauces, this one too is quite challenging to prepare at home and requires a fair amount of time. Your life will be easier with the ready-made Home Chef four peppercorn sauce, which you can find at the Harissa Spice Store. It is prepared by the original recipe, from top-quality ingredients, and it is enough to heat it a little bit and pour it over the meat. Trust us, no one will know you didn't spend hours preparing it in your kitchen.