Why whole pepper keeps its bite

The heat in pepper comes from piperine, but the smell — the part that makes food taste of something — comes from volatile oils held inside the corn.

Grinding breaks that shell open. From the moment it does, those oils begin to evaporate, and a jar of ground pepper on a warm shelf is noticeably flatter within a month.

A whole peppercorn keeps its own lid on. Stored airtight and away from the stove, it will still be sharp a year later. This is why we sell it whole, and why the mill next to your hob is worth the ten seconds it costs.

If you only change one thing in how you cook with spice, make it this one.