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Farm-to-Table Pepper Fries at the Roadhouse

A plate full of golden fries dusted with black pepper.

Tellicherry black pepper tossed with twice-cooked fries!

By Ari Weinzweig

Some people go crazy for pastry; me, I love potatoes. Some swoon over chocolate; I start getting excited when I find really great peppercorns. Which is why this combo is so enticing to me! Twice-cooked pommes frites at the Roadhouse, dusted right out of the fryer with the fantastic farm-to-table Tellicherry peppercorns—I could eat them every day!

About the peppercorns.

This very special black pepper—the only one we use in the Roadhouse kitchen—is one of the most inspiring improvements we’ve made in the last three or four years. Sourced by Philippe and Ethné De Vienne of our remarkable Montreal-based spice supplier, Épices de Cru, this harder-to-get but much higher-quality Tellicherry took our pepper game to a whole new level. The pepper comes from Kerala, on the southeast coast of India to which the pepper plant is indigenous. The De Viennes work with their friend, Sudheer, who lives in the region, to source the peppercorns from a series of small family farms. Whereas spices generally arrive at the North American distributors without much attention having been paid to the farmers who grow them, Épices de Cru has given us a great way to support the folks who do the work in the fields. By paying more for it, we contribute to helping raise the standards of living in the peppercorn-producing regions! And you and I get to each much more flavorful black pepper.

Because Tellicherry peppercorns are consistently in such high demand, unscrupulous traders often cut it with lower-cost peppercorns from other sources. The real thing, though, is an inspiration. Great authentic Tellicherry like this is wine-like in that its flavor grows slowly in your mouth; it has legs, you could say. It brings a warm, nuanced heat that builds slowly rather than hitting you all at once, in a way that reminds me a bit of eucalyptus and walking through the woods in northern California.

Why this pepper is so good with our fries.

Tossed with the potatoes hot out of the fryer, the pepper really shines in this dish. The aromatic spice of the pepper and the creaminess of the freshly-cooked potatoes come together beautifully! The aroma is amazing—you’ll smell them as soon as they get close to them. And then, if you’re like me, you’ll pretty happily set about eating them! It’s a great way to take everyday food to a whole new, spicy level!

Because so many people who eat the Tellicherry pepper fries are blown away by the peppercorns and want to take some home with them, the Roadhouse crew now has this special farm-to-table Tellicherry black pepper packed for purchase, too!