Assam long pepper

The Piper mullesua is a fairly rare Asian pepper species. Although it is found in many countries in the Himalayas, in the west it is only available from Assam, a region characterized by mountains and plateaus.

The Assam pepper only grows in the wild, often on steep and rocky slopes. In English it is therefore called hill pepper. He is not cultured. The Piper mullesua is called a long pepper because, like long peppers, it has a fruit that is made up of many intergrown ovaries, like a blackberry. The difference with the classic ear-shaped long pepper, apart from the shape of the fruit, is the size of the fruits. These are the size of poppy seeds in the long peppers, and comparable to the grain of paradise in the Assam pepper.

This pepper grows on a climbing plant of approximately four meters high, with slightly hairy twigs and lance-shaped leaves. The inflorescence is hermaphroditic. The flowering time in the Himalayas is from May to July, but on the west coast of India it blooms considerably earlier, from January to April. The fruit is barely a centimeter in size and stands on a stalk.

The pungent substance in real peppers is piperine, the trademark of the real peppers in the plant genus Piperaceae. This piperine is virtually absent in this pepper. Instead, this pepper has a slightly numbing, tingling sensation on the tongue, as you would expect from a Sichuan pepper. Very exceptional for a real pepper.

Not only the sharpness, but also the aromas develop during ripening. The main flavor components of this ripe 'slope pepper' are:

• E-β-farnesene (22.8%), sweet, woody with citrus notes,
• myristicine (19.2%), warm spicy, like balsamic vinegar, in cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper,
• germacrene D (11.8%), spicy and woody,
• β-caryophyllene (4.9%), sweet spicy and woody,
• α-copaene (2.6%), woody, spicy, honey,
• Z-β-farnesene (2.6%), 'green' with citrus notes, and
• d-limonene (1.4%), responsible for the citrus aromas.

This subtle pepper fits perfectly into the character of Assamese cooking, which only uses spices in moderation. The dishes with river fish, often from their own pond, such as sour fish, masor tenga, are famous. Tip: Instead of frying the fish, cook it in a mixture of ginger and assam pepper.

This special long pepper is also excellent to use in dishes in which other long peppers can also be used, such as in oso buco, with goat cheese and in winter soups. Due to the fruity accents, the pepper combines well with exotic fruit, coconut, but also strawberries and melon.

Recipe(s):

Features:

• 100% pepper berries of the Piper mullesua
• grows in the wild, hand-picked
• origin: Assam, Northeast India

Assortment

• available in glass and stand-up pouch (no test tubes)
  
• glass jars contain 45 or 60 grams
• stand-up pouches with a capacity of up to 30 to 300 grams
• larger quantities on request

Gift packaging

• the jar is available in a tasteful gift packaging, consisting of a cube box filled with black tissue paper
• for an overview of our gift packaging, please refer to the section  gift packaging 

General advice

• crush the fruit and grind the peppercorns shortly before use
  
• the taste is very subtle, so add the ground pepper to your preparation at the very last minute, or give it time to incorporate into your dish, a sauce or curry for example

Save:

• store your assam pepper in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before August 2025 (08/25)
• this expiration date is an indication