Pink Pepper Picking

A few weeks ago I described my pink peppercorn find.  After confirmation from some expert foragers and recruiting an excellent foraging partner (my Mom!), I was ready to commence with the Pink Pepper Picking!

There was a serious abundance of fruits on the trees, so finding sufficient quantity was not a problem.  The main inconvenience of the mission was the sheer height of the trees- our harvest would have been larger had I brought a step ladder along.  I did bring gardening gloves, a pair of clippers and a tote bag.  But it turns out, all I needed was the tote bag.  We checked out the bunches of peppers within reach and chose to harvest the ones with the best color.  Our assumption was: bright pink = fresh.

After a mere ten minutes of effort, this is the resultant harvest:

Not bad, huh? 

We each decided to try a pepper and see how they tasted.  The answer?  The shell was sweet and the kernel inside was really peppery.  That might seem pretty obvious, but I just was not prepared for this level of pepper.  Half an hour later my Mom turned to me and said, "You know, I still taste that pepper."  I'm not sure she was a fan...

Now I will lay them out on a baking sheet to dry for a few days, then will bottle them up and store them in the pantry.  I am looking forward to making all of these dishes featuring them:

Pink pepper goat cheese spread
Pink pepper marinated olives
Chocolate and pink peppercorn cupcakes

Yum!  If you know a great way to showcase pink peppers, please pass it along in the comments.  And also, thanks, Mom!

Standard Foraging Disclaimer: Be careful, only eat things you're sure of, don't kill yourself, yada yada yada.

An Impromptu Harvest

I got home late from work last Tuesday and didn't have time to take Snoutface (the dog) to the park before sunset.  Instead, we went for a nice walk down the wide bikepath adjacent to the park.  It's always a nice change to wander somewhere different; the view of the vineyard-covered hills was incredibly relaxing.  We were moseying along and talking about our day (that is, my husband and I were talking- Snoutface was just sniffing things) when I spotted a group of trees I hadn't noticed before.

Just last month, there was a post at The Kitchn about foraging for pink pepper.  I had never really given much thought to the pink orbs in a bottle of mixed peppercorns.  It turns out they aren't pepper at all but a South American native in the genus Schinus (as opposed to Piper) that can be found as an invasive plant here in California.  The tree along my path looked just like Schinus molle (Peruvian peppertree) so I gathered an impromptu harvest of peppers and a sprig of leaf to bring home for identification.

And the verdict?  Yeehaw!  It looks like I found myself several trees just bursting with pink peppercorns.  I am taking a foraging class this weekend and will bring my samples for expert identification.  Meanwhile, I am fairly confident with my amateur i.d., so I'm plotting a trip back to the trees soon to do some pink pepper picking!

Standard Foraging Disclaimer: Be careful and forage at your own risk. It's fun, yes, but let's not die over it, 'kay? Kay.