I just finished the third season of The Bear on Hulu. I’ve enjoyed the show all three seasons, although I do have to say that I think that the main character’s story, although interesting, is the least interesting of all of the characters on the show. I find that a bit strange.

The final episode of the third season, I felt, was strong. The episode did very much make me feel nostalgic for my time working in restaurants.

However, I wanted to focus on a very brief bit of dialog in which one character notes that another character has a problem with black pepper. You might think that that’s surprising since black pepper, in Western cooking, is second only to salt in popularity as a seasoning - and has been for centuries. The character who has a problem with black pepper is a villain, so I think the audience is supposed to find that opinion to be “wrong”, but I’m here to say - I see where he’s coming from.

Black pepper is only so popular because King Louis XIV of France made it the spice in French cooking during his reign, and French cooking holds a hegemony over Western cuisines.

From Ettinger’s piece:

Fast forward to France when Louis XIV was the monarch from 1643 until his death in 1715. Unlike his fellow countrymen, who are known to be hearty eaters, Louis was a picky eater who did not favor too much seasoning in his food. “In fact, he banned outright the use of all eastern spices beyond salt, pepper, and parsley (deemed more wholesome and exquisite than ruddy cardamom [cilantro]),” explains Gizmodo. “Black pepper’s spiky, pungent flavor provided just enough kick to the King’s meals without overwhelming the taste of the underlying foods to satiate his needs.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Black pepper began to appear alongside salt on tables all throughout Europe and the Americas (although in Asia it’s still not as common as soy sauce and other condiments).

Black pepper’s popularity is because of the influence of a “picky eater”. I hold no ill will towards black pepper and enjoy it, but I’m certainly not going to have a problem with someone that thinks that it’s overrated.