Origin of a tiny red pepper corn

We recently ate at a restaurant that served a pine nut brittle very similar to a recipe on Food 52 http://www.food52.com/recipes...
except that it was paper thin and also had a tiny, flat red pepper seed. The only thing they would share was that it was difficult to get these seeds. Any ideas as to how to make the brittle so thin and what the seed might be? Thanks

cabfood
  • Posted by: cabfood
  • October 15, 2012
  • 3493 views
  • 5 Comments

5 Comments

cabfood October 18, 2012
I was finally able to get info from the restaurant: the savory brittle recipe has pink peppercorns! Further reading tells me that a pink peppercorn is actually a dried berry of the shrub Schinus molle, commonly known as the Peruvian peppertree". Thanks to all who responded. I can't wait to try the recipe!
 
Sadassa_Ulna October 15, 2012
Maybe they were tamarillo or summer tomato seeds?
http://summertomato.com/what-is-a-tamarillo/
 
cabfood October 15, 2012
It was red, very flat, a bit smaller than a grain of rice and texture of a seed. I guess I should have said seed rather than peppercorn.
 
pierino October 15, 2012
Peppercorn or seed? Pepper is what sent Cristoforo Colombo sailing across the Atlantic looking for the back way to India. What type of cuisine was being served in the restaurant? "Red peppercorn" is kind of a vague description because there are different plants and cultivars depending on the country or continent. The origin of the term "pepper" comes from sanskrit and the spice trade with India was one of the most important areas of commerce going back to the Middle Ages.
 
Kenzi W. October 15, 2012
This is a tough one -- I might recommend getting in contact with the restaurant again after the fact. You may get lucky and get an exact name. Another resource I can offer is this Kitchen Confidence all about pepper: http://food52.com/blog/3625_all_about_pepper

Other than that, it's a little hard to tell without a picture. Perhaps we have other pepper experts who can chime in!
 
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