Razzle Dazzle

Like me, I’m sure many of you have approached eye-watering nirvana under the influence of a smidge too much wasabi.

Those of us who like a bit (or a lot) of kick know that spicy heat comes in many forms. The radish family, to which wasabi belongs, for example, offers everything from the sweet bite of those cute, French breakfast rubies to the sinus-clearing, nuclear-grade varieties of the horsey kind.

We’re all familiar with the prickly heat of peppercorns (which are actually berries from a flowering vine). When dried, the pepper berries turn black and have that wild, untamed crack we know so well. I prefer white peppercorns, which are dried berries with the skins removed. These have a softer, muskier – and I would say, sneezier – spice about them. Used throughout Chinese cooking, white pepper is incredibly nostalgic for me. It’s the invisible heat in hot and sour soup, and one half of the yin-yang that makes salt and pepper dishes so tasty.

But peppercorns can be quite mild, as well, like the pink ones, which are incredibly fragrant and floral, or the green ones, which are often brined and pickled. Like tiny capers with just a bit more personality, green...