What to use instead of black pepper
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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The pungent heat a dish is built around
Piperine is fat-soluble, which is why pepper blooms in butter or toasts in a dry pan before the pasta water goes in. In cacio e pepe it is a main ingredient.
White peppercorns, ground freshRan out
1:1
Heat lands further back in the throat and brings a faint fermented smell. No black flecks, so a pale sauce stays pale.
Grains of paradise, crackedRan out
1:1
Same order of heat with a cardamom and ginger edge behind it.
Sichuan peppercorn + white pepperRan out
1 tsp Sichuan + 1/4 tsp white per 1 tsp black
Numbing and citrusy. You end up with a different dish, which is worth doing on purpose but will surprise anyone expecting cacio e pepe.
What doesn't work: Pre-ground pepper from a tub for cacio e pepe. The aroma oils have been gone for months, so you get grey dust and mild bitterness where the dish needs an actual sting.
Background seasoning in a rub, gravy or braise
It props up salt and adds a low bitter edge that stops rich food tasting flat, all at quantities small enough not to register as heat.
White pepperRan out
3/4 tsp per 1 tsp black
Same seasoning job without visible specks. Slightly barnyard smell that disappears in a cooked sauce.
CayenneRan out
1/4 tsp per 1 tsp black pepper
Sharper and further forward on the tongue, with none of the woody note. Easy to overshoot.
Pink peppercorns, crushedRan out
1:1
Fruity and mild with almost no heat, so the dish tastes under-seasoned unless you add a pinch more salt.
What doesn't work: Chilli flakes measured one for one. They are several times hotter, the burn sits at the front of the mouth, and they float on a gravy in red specks instead of dissolving through it.