Did you know that pepper was once considered one of the most rare and expensive spices in the world? It was used as currency in different cultures. People called pepper "black gold." Black pepper is produced from the still-green unripe berries of the pepper plant. The berries are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying.

The heat ruptures cell walls in the fruit, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The berries are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the fruit around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer, the result of a fungal reaction.

Once dried, the fruits are called black peppercorns.
White pepper is a bit spicier has the texture of flour. There are green and pink peppercorns as well.