Salt is the yin to pepper's yang. When we consider one, we also consider the other. Although we may choose to season food with pepper consciously, the action is so engrained in our behaviour that we frequently fail to pause and think about its purpose. Our bodies require salt as a vital component in order to survive. Contrarily, pepper is a desire that we use to enhance the flavour and texture of our cuisine.
Black pepper
Black pepper is probably what you currently have in your grinder or shaker. Black pepper berries are plucked as they transition from green to yellow. After that, they spend three to seven days drying in the sun. They turn into the small, wrinkled black pellets we are so familiar with after this cure. Sadly, white pepper is an underused peppercorn. The difference between it and black pepper goes far beyond colour.
White pepper
White pepper comes from the same plant as black pepper, but the berries are plucked when they are ripe and then soaked to remove the outer skins, exposing the creamy white interior seed. White pepper has a fruitier flavour than black pepper but is more spicy and hot.
Green pepper
Green pepper is merely young, unripe pepperberries in their most basic form. Fresh pepper cannot be shipped halfway across the world, so what we find on the market is either freeze-dried or packaged in brine. Although still spicy, the flavour is sweeter and fruitier. It goes well with chicken, fish, and even chèvre cheese.
Pink pepper
Pink peppercorns have a similar size to black peppercorns and a similar flavour, though not nearly as strong. The berries are more delicate in their dried state than black pepper, and when pulverised, they resemble fine, jovial red-pink confetti.