Ask Alice...

"There’s certainly too much pepper in that soup!" Alice said to herself, as well as she could for sneezing.

There was certainly too much of it in the air. Even the Duchess sneezed occasionally; and as for the baby, it was sneezing and howling alternately without a moment’s pause. The only two creatures in the kitchen, that did not sneeze, were the cook, and a large cat, which was lying on the hearth and grinning from ear to ear.

- Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Of course...to avoid over-peppering (of soup, cook, or cat)...a classic French wooden pepper mill would probably help matters...