Black Gold in the backyard. Without the need to brave high seas.

It never ceases to amaze me how an idle stroll in our backyard at Kerala almost always
ends up as a revelation of sorts. All you need to do is to be in a slightly observant mode
and nature would reveal something new each time. And that's how I stumbled upon the
treasure trove of black gold in our backyard last weekend.

Naah, I did not stumble upon an oil-well, given that in today's world, black gold usually
refers to crude oil, for which many a war has been waged and many an overconfident
nation has found itself bogged down in the Middle East, in what it thought would be a
walk in the park on its pursuit to secure the oil-fields of Iraq. But I am digressing.

I am walking back home after checking out the water-level in the fields behind our home
when I chance upon this tree with a creeper covering its trunk.


At first sight, it looked like a parasitic creeper using the tree as its host. But a closer look revealed that it was not just another useless creeper, but a plant that produces what is
today known as the King of Spices and what was centuries ago known as Black Gold.

In the snaps below, you can see spikes with still-green unripe berries on them. I am not
really happy with the close-up shots produced by my phone-cam, but since my Sony-H7
is not around, these have to do for now.


Reference here is to black pepper, which is today one of the most widely used spices in
the world. Ofcourse this was not the case always. There was a time when the demand
for this spice far exceeded supply or actually supply was controlled to create a kind of
artificial demand resulting in the price becoming prohibitively high.

It is said that when the Portuguese under Vasco da Gama landed on Indian shores at
Kozhikode (or Calicut as the place is known in English) in 1498 AD, they had twin goals
in mind - spreading Christianity & access to spices. The former goal was unnecessary
because Christianity was already thriving here. But they did strike gold with the spices.

I am not really surprised by the thought-process of Vasco da Gama, when he asked the
local ruler (known as Zamorin) if he could take back with him a black-pepper sapling.
After all, why brave the harsh sea conditions every now and then to source the spice, if
you could grow it back in Portugal ?

The Zamorin's courtiers were outraged at the impertinent request, but the ruler is
supposed to have calmly replied, "You can take our pepper, but you can never take
our rains with you". He was referring to the unusual twin monsoons that the region
enjoys and which plays a big role in the quality of its crop. To this day, though regions
elsewhere grow pepper, Kerala reigns supreme in its quality, dominating the high end
of the market.

As I finish my photo-session and continue walking home, I come across another tree
with the black-pepper vine around it. Now I know better than dismissing it off as just
another parasitic creeper.


While this plant has also flowered, the berries are kind of smaller. Maybe they will grow
bigger now that the monsoon is in full swing.


As always Wikipedia has a full page on black pepper, the various varieties, how they are
processed from the point of collection as berries-on-the-wine to when they finally find a
place in our kitchens or dining tables.