Black Sarawak <tc>pepper</tc> GI

Sarawakpepper is called the Queen of the peppers called. The cultivar Kuching, named after the capital of Sarawak, has long been the main peppervariety, but like many agricultural products, Sarawakpepper in development.

It may sound critical, the Sarawak pepper to be described as a pepper in development, because this traditional pepper can count on a loyal Asian audience. As much as three-quarters of Sarawak's harvest finds its way to Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and other Asian countries. For Japan, Sarawak ispepper the standard anyway, but if we are to believe the Malaysia Pepper Board it is also the favorite pepper of King Elizabeth.

The peppercultivation in Sarawak was established three centuries ago by settlers from China, a country without pepper-tradition.

When black pepper The king of spices, many authors believe, is Sarawakpepper the queen. It is curious that the Sarawak has the reputation of being rare and growing in the pristine environment of tropical forests. Sarawak does have a native pepper, but that is the Piper sarmentosum, where the leaves are eaten rather than the berries. The reality is that the cultivation of pepper in Sarawak, although organised on a small scale, is extremely professional.

About 85% of the 67,000 households that earn their living from Sarawak pepper earn, belongs to the indigenous Ibans and Bidayuh's.

Sarawak pepper has a Malaysian Geographical Indication (GI), which is overseen by MyIPO, which falls under the Malaysian Ministry of Economic Affairs. Kuching is the classic Sarawak cultivar; the cultivars 'Semongok perak' and 'Semongok emas' are emerging.

The Sarawak vines are strung together in open fields, often without shade, and are pruned several times a year to maximize yield. There's no greater contrast imaginable than with the cultivation of the premiumpeppers from Kerala, which in addition to being grown in companion planting, are usually shaded and not pruned.

The Sarawakpeppers are collected between March and August harvested. More than three quarters of the pepperberries are harvested unripe and cut into black pepper processed. The ripe berries are mainly processed into white pepper incorporated.

Why not organic?

The reason for this is quite simple. To meet the strict international standards, small family businesses must make prohibitively large investments. Even though microcredit is available, it hasn't proven feasible for most family businesses. About ten years ago, the Board began promoting organic farming, but for the reasons mentioned above, it has still not gained much traction.

Developments

The government-stimulated increase in scale poses a serious threat to the survival of small-scale farming pepperThis is also under fire from palm oil and pineapple producers, who are not only venting their hunger for space on the rainforest.

Smell and taste

Black Sarawak smells spicier than it tastes. Besides the aroma of wet wood, you'll detect notes of fruit (citrus) and cocoa.

Usage

Sarawak is used in Malaysian dishes like Sarawak laksa—the Chinese influence—and curries, and coarsely ground over your grilled steak. It's also used in stir-fries with light spring vegetables and in desserts with soft red fruit.

Features:

• 100% pepperberries of the Piper nigrum var kuching
• protected by the Malaysian BGA label (international: PGI)
• origin: Kuching region, Sarawak (Malaysia)

Assortment

• available in glass (60 grams), stand-up pouch and test tube (10 ml)
• larger quantities on request

Gift wrapping

• 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 gift packaging section.

General advice

• grind your pepper shortly before use
  
• add the ground pepper at the very last moment to your preparation

Save:

• save your sarawak pepper in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before September 2028 (09-2028)
• This expiration date is an indication

Try?

Want to know what Sarawak tastes like? You can also try a test tube with enough pepper to capture the flavor essence of this pepper to be able to understand.

Batch number

The batch number helps us track which batch an item originates from. It's listed on the packing slip and invoice.