Unique Pepperberry and Apple Presentation: A Spicy Surprise

Here’s a favourite of mine – so simple! So simple I hesitate to call it a recipe. Pepperberry is of course both pepper (spicy) and berry (fruity). As such it lends itself to sweet applications better than its imported counterpart (regular pepper). It also combines readily with other fruit. One such combination is apple and pepperberry. Not only is it a great flavour combination but it looks cool too! Pepper bleeds colour into the apple slices to make it look speckled. Presented well it is totally dinner-party worthy and has a kinda “what’s that?” appearance. The flavour of pepperberry is easily discernible from the ubiquitously-known apple flavour. Therefore it is a great way to introduce people to pepperberry.

What you’ll need:

• fresh quality apples. New season best. 2 or 3.
• lemon juice. 2 or 3 lemons.
• pepperberry. 1 table spoon finely ground
• 1 tbsn spoon of sugar (optional)
• mint as garnish (optional)
• equipment: sharp knife, chopping board, serving plate, and a large bowl.
• tooth pick or skewer if you want to do the fancy pants apple garnish pictured.

How to do it:

1. First of all you if you would like to do the pictured apple rosette follow this link: I found it quite simple and fun to do.
2. Once you’ve done your apple rosette drip some lemon juice over it to prevent it from going brown. Place it in the centre of your serving dish. If you want to use mint as a garnish then consider laying that down first.
3. Next is to prepare the apple slices. Core your apple and cut slices as pictured – about 1 cm thick or as desired. One large apple should fill your plate. To prevent them from going brown place them in a large bowl and cover them with lemon juice water: add lemon juice and water at a ratio of 1 cup of water to two table spoons of lemon juice. Soak for 10 minutes. This should prevent browning for some hours.
4. Now place apple slices around your serving plate and add a pinch of sugar to each slice (optional). Using a pepper grinder or mortar and pestle apply pepperberry directly on to apple slices. Test a few to get you eye in as far as quantity goes. I like to add a pinch of sugar to balance out the lemon and pepper bite but it is totally optional.
5. Serve with gusto!