How We Put a Campfire in a Peppercorn
Smoked pepper already exists. It just isn't very popular, and most of what we've tried wasn't worth eating. We've tasted a lot of it. Sourcing trips through Cambodia, parts of...
Black Pepper: One Spice, Infinite Worlds
I cook probably five times a week — a Japanese-ish rice bowl one night, a French-ish pan sauce the next, some improvised noodle situation when I’m tired. My cooking doesn’t...
The messiest possible way to win a Red Dot, with a pepper grinder
By Layla Wei I’m still trying to process this: we won a Red Dot Product Design award for Piper Oudo. Not “I studied design, interned at a legendary studio and...
Pepper Terroir, Explained
We talk about terroir for wine. We obsess over origin in coffee. For pepper, we never really hear about it… but we really should. Pepper is a fruit. And just...
Fine or Coarse? What Grind Size Really Changes
For a long time, I thought grind size was just about texture. But the more I paid attention, the more I realized it’s about control. Grind size determines whether aroma...
Why Some Pepper Tastes Better (It’s All Chemistry)
Most people think pepper is just spicy. I used to think that too. But once you start looking at what’s actually inside a peppercorn — chemically — it changes how you...
Piper Recipes
Peppery Banana Bread
This one comes straight from my sister: she’s been baking a version of this in Montreal for friends recently, and people rave about it every time. The surprise is the black...
Black Pepper Roasted Chicken
This is my wife’s favorite everyday meal... the kind of dish she could happily eat on repeat without ever getting tired of it. In our house, it’s the workhorse recipe:...
Pepper Gravy Mashed Potatoes
Chef's Summary Prepare an umami-rich stock from roasted chicken bones, classic mirepoix, and whole peppercorns Make traditional mashed potatoes by boiling and mashing until smooth Build a pepper gravy by...