Scientific name: piper nigrum
Peppercorns are the fruit and seeds of a vine native to India. The fruit is very small and only has one seed, and a thin layer of flesh around the outside. Peppercorns are dried and sold as pepper, either whole or ground up into small flakes or a powder. Pepper is usually sold in white and black. White pepper is made from just the seeds of the pepper fruit, and black pepper is made from the whole fruit, seed and all.
Scientific name: diospyros kaki
Persimmons are an orange fruit with a sweet, tangy flavour. The variety most commonly grown is native to China. They must be completely ripe before they can be eaten, as the immature fruit is very bitter. They can be eaten fresh, dried, or used to make foods like desserts or even fermented to make vinegar.
The main variety now grown commercially and in home gardens in New Zealand is Fuyu. This is a non-astringent variety and is best eaten while it is still crisp - like an apple.
Pickling is a way of preserving food. The most common vegetables pickled today are cucumbers, olives and onions.
Pickling is a way of preserving food by storing it in acid, either directly by using vinegar or by fermenting food in salty water to make lactic acid. Herbs like garlic and mustard are often added to pickles both for flavour and to help keep germs at bay.
Scientific name: pinus pinea
Pine nuts are the seeds of pine trees, most notably the stone pine. All pine tree seeds are edible, but only some varieties are big enough to be worth harvesting. Most pine nuts you buy in shops come from stone pines.
Pine nuts are a major ingredient of pesto.
Scientific name: ananas comosus
Pineapples are a type of very sweet tropical fruit. Pineapples are eaten fresh, used in desserts, cakes and their juice is used in many drinks. You need to take off the prickly outside of the fruit before you can eat it.
Pineapple flowers are most often pollinated by the hummingbird.
Piping is a method of cooking or baking where an ingredient such as dough or frosting is put in a bag and pushed out of a narrow hole that allows the cook to make pretty shapes or decorations.
Scientific name: pistacia vera kerman
Pistachios are the seeds of a medium sized tree native to Iran, Syria, Greece, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. They are also called the green nut. The trees are slow to mature and are most productive at 20 years old. The trees grow best in desert areas, and tolerate very salty soil.
Pistachio shells pop open when they are ripe. They are most often sold roasted and salted and just eaten plain, but they can also be used in desserts and some other types of food.
