What’s the Deal With Waiters Grinding Pepper Onto Your Food?

[ashling]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/08/22/tableside_pepper_grinding_at_restaurants_why_servers_started_wielding_pepper.html

After exploring the debate over whether restaurants should always have salt shakers on their tables, we at Brow Beat wondered: What’s the deal with waiters who grind black pepper directly from a pepper mill onto your plate? Black pepper isn’t a rare or expensive ingredient, and it’s not so perishable that it needs to be ground seconds before consumption. Plus, as Sara Dickerman has argued in Slate, pepper doesn’t complement everything—unlike salt, it’s not a universal flavor enhancer, and it can easily overpower subtler flavors. So where does this curiously popular tableside service come from?

[hlthe2b]

1. LOL... those really long grinders arre pretty ridiculous too...

But, if they start offering to grind salt (special "Mediterranean sea salt&quot at the table, I'm done.

[onehandle]

2. It's just a cheap way to demonstrate 'good service.'

I have no memory of anyone saying yes to the action.

[UTUSN]

3. Bwa-hah. Luckily I'm not around such places much. & I take over my own service,

sometimes, when the (regular) shakers are overfilled or have too small openings, unscrewing the tops and shaking out my preferred amounts from the open mouth. I'm a BARBARIAN!1 A Vandal!1

[Jenoch]

4. I agree that this service is more about

theater (good service) than it is about pepper. I have only ever had the offering of a few grinds of pepper from waitstaff on a salad, never on an entree.

I will disagree with the statement that pepper does not need to be ground seconds before consumption. Of course pepper needs to be ground seconds before consumption. That's the only way I know that it is freshly ground pepper. No store-bought ground pepper for me.

[Aristus]

5. I, for one, refuse to dump on service staff over this.

It's a job requirement, and nearly every service person I've ever had has done it with aplomb. I nearly always say 'yes'. Fresh ground pepper is usually more coarsely ground than the pepper in the shaker, and I like it like that, especially on my Caesar salad.

"The Annoyance Of An Offer Of Fresh Ground Pepper At The Table." - also known as a First-World Problem.

[RiffRandell]

9. Me too!

Love it on my Caesar salads!

[ashling]

12. I agree with everything you said

"The Annoyance Of An Offer Of Fresh Ground Pepper At The Table." - also known as a First-World Problem.



However, I can't even think about eating a ceasar (sp) without getting nauseous. To each his or her own,

[Chan790]

6. Actually the author is semi-wrong.

Black pepper starts to change in flavor, subtly at-first, within the first hour after grinding. The stuff you get fresh-ground at the gourmet market is already degraded from the flavor when it was first ground. Forget the pre-ground sold in the supermarket, it's ancient.

It's kind of ridiculous to have the waiter grind pepper, it's not going to spoil in the first 5 seconds (some things like properly-extracted espresso really do degrade that fast, pepper is not one of them), but for the freshest flavor, the grinder should be on the table. If you're the sort of place that doesn't even put salt-shakers on tables...having the waiter grind the pepper is probably the only workable choice unless you were going to grind it for every table between seatings or make customers request a saucer of pepper ground-to-order.

[d_r]

7. yes

fresh ground pepper absolutely tastes better than sitting around pepper. I also agree that it should be on the table, I'd rather just grind it myself than the server.

I also understand how salt and pepper on the table can be a sign of lack of confidence to the chef - sort of like adding wasabe to your sushi - but different people have different tastes. I personally love pepper and never salt anything. My wife loves salt.

[RiffRandell]

8. I love fresh ground pepper on salads and always say yes when offered.

I have a pepper grinder at home and use that on my salads as well.

I'm also quite a germaphobe and don't like using condiments with my bare hands...if I have to (I rarely use the salt shaker) I always use hand sanitizer (staple in my purse).

I'm an excellent tipper as I waited tables in hs and college and the only time I blame the server is if I know they have fresh ground pepper and they don't offer it. Then I just ask for it.

[Arugula Latte]

10. I like it. The pepper is fresh and tastes more "peppery."

Gimme a cesar salad and lotsa pepper ... mmm ...

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. I suspect it's because customers would take the small grinders home with them

.
.
.

Sorta akin to towels from a hotel room . . .

And freshly ground pepper does taste much better than store bought ground pepper,

no argument there . .



CC

[ashling]

18. They have the little McCormick grinders on the table at lots of restraunts

[pipi_k]

13. I usually make the waiter

taste my food first so he'll know how much pepper to add.


In any event, I don't notice the difference between fresh ground pepper and the store stuff.

About the only thing I can notice a difference in is sea salt vs regular store salt.

[TrogL]

14. I usually threaten not to tip

I don't like pepper or cloying, nuisance waiters.

Take my order, bring my food, if I need you I'll wave at you.

[CBGLuthier]

15. I have a pepper grinder and grind it all fresh

One of the small fine pleasures in life. Some people need to find something serious to complain about.

[trof]

16. The mark of a really good restaurant: Pepper grinders on the table.

OK, some will disappear.
Big deal?
Bought in bulk they aren't that expensive.

Yes, fresh ground tastes much better.

[panader0]

17. They used to call those pepper mills Rubirosas for Porfirio Rubirosa

At a social affair, c. 1954 accompanying Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Personal life[edit source]

Rubirosa was linked romantically to Dolores del Río, Eartha Kitt, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Soraya Esfandiary, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Joan Crawford, Veronica Lake, Kim Novak, Judy Garland, and Eva Peron. He dallied with his ex-wife Flor de Oro Trujillo Ledesma during his marriage to Doris Duke, and with Zsa Zsa Gabor during his marriage to Barbara Hutton. He was named a co-respondent in at least two divorces, the wives charging adultery in each case.

Rubirosa was married five times, but never had any children. His wives were:
Flor de Oro Trujillo, Rafael Trujillo's daughter, December 3, 1932–38
Danielle Darrieux, French actress, September 18, 1942 – May 21, 1947
Doris Duke, American heiress, September 1, 1947 – October 1948; with marital gifts and final settlement he received an alimony ($25,000 per year until remarriage), a fishing fleet off Africa, several sports cars, a converted B-25 bomber (La Ganza), and a 17th Century house at Rue de Bellechasse, Paris.[6]
Barbara Hutton, American heiress, December 30, 1953 – February 20, 1954; in the settlement he received a coffee plantation in the Dominican Republic, another B-25, polo ponies, jewelry, and she paid him a reported $2.5 million.[7]
Odile Rodin, French actress, age 19, October 27, 1956 – July 5, 1965 (his death). It is believed that he dated Marilyn Monroe for a short time.

His playboy lifestyle was matched by stories of his sexual prowess. His larger than average penis size inspired Parisian waiters to name gigantic pepper mills “Rubirosas”.[8]

Polo and car racing[edit source]

[many a good man]

19. When to stop

I like to sit quietly with my lips zipped as the waiter searches my poker face for the clue when to stop grinding. The best waiters leave a tall black pile on my plate when the pepper grinder is finally emptied. They get the biggest tips.