Long pepper is a plant from the Piperacea family with a pepperPlants very small fruits in a spike-shaped growth habit. The best-known types are the Indian and Javanese long pepper, Piper longum and Piper retrofractum. Long pepper is a snowed-under pepperkind, the peppermarket has been dominated since the seventeenth century by the dried round berries of the Piper nigrum (black pepper) and since the eighteenth century its most formidable competitor: the Capsicum or chilipepper.
In the preceding period, spices were scarce and expensive, and many spices from Asia, mostly India, were transported overland due to lack of transport facilities Larger ships only came later—and skills. How could you sail east with the prevailing wind direction during the monsoon season?
The ruling peppers in the Middle Ages and before that the African pepper, called paradise grain, and the long pepper, which was used as a medicine until the sixth century following Indian Ayurveda, and only then was it also used as a seasoning. Only then was the long pepper a popular culinary ingredient in Greek and Roman cuisine, and from there to the rest of Europe.
Slowly the tall one acquires pepper another spot next to the black one pepper, especially the varieties cultivated in India and Indonesia. This follows the long pepper the tradition of the black pepper. It must be said in all fairness that not all long peppers that come from there, can compete in taste with the 'small' long ones peppers from elsewhere, which have the disadvantage of being scarcer and more expensive. History repeats itself.
We currently supply two varieties of Piper retrofractum, distinguished by their blushing red color when ripe: the Japanese pipatsu and the Cambodian long pepper, originating from the same region as the famous Kampot pepper, and one species of Piper longum, from Binh Duong in Vietnam. The supply of the Japanese pipatsu and The Binh Duong is temporarily 'complicated'. Therefore, we currently only supply the red long Kampot pepper.
We are missing two other long ones in this overview peppers, the African Piper capense (Cape long pepper), and Assam pepper, the long blackberry-shaped peppertje, which is even more complex in taste than the long, ear-shaped one peppers. Despite a very long search, we have not yet succeeded in finding a high-quality and reasonably affordable Cape long pepper to obtain. The search continues unabated. We do offer the Assam pepper on, the Piper mulesua.
Try this other one pepper once. Enjoy its warm, earthy aromas and its complexity that lingers peppers particularly suitable for use in curries and stews (whole, broken or ground) but also lends itself well to use as a substitute for black pepper in the pepper grinderIn that case, it is recommended to first bruise the ear and remove the rachis.
How grind a long pepper ?
Like nutmeg, you can use long pepper grind by grating it, for example using a small Microplane grater, which you you can also use it for garlic and ginger. Or our Billund nutmeg mill, with its practical rotating mechanism. This guarantees you'll keep your fingers safe and minimizes waste. pepper !
