A vital ingredient in all aspects of cooking! Press black peppercorns into steaks before frying, stir them with butter into pasta dishes, delicious on mushrooms. The heady aromatic spiciness adds to all savoury dishes with its depth of pungent flavour

Recipe

< beef roast>

Rub coarse black pepper all over a 2.5kg prime beef fillet and leave until room temperature.

Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 6, roast fillet for 20 mins, turning once. Remove and cover with aluminum foil, domed so it doesn't touch the meat. Place back in oven and cook for a further 35 minutes, rest for 10 minutes before serving. This recipe is for rare roast beef.