<tc>Grains of paradise</tc>

Paradise grain is a hot pepper, popular in West African and Surinamese cuisine. The small seeds are in a seed capsule, embedded in a jelly-like fluid, which hardens after drying.

We supply paradise grain as a seed pod - to peel yourself - and in peeled form, the so-called grains (seeds).

This (pseudo)pepper from Cameroon (sometimes  we source our grain of paradise from Ghana) is a member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), and is also known by names such as Guinea pepper and malaguetta pepper. It has been an important spice in West African and Surinamese cuisine for centuries.

The plant grows like all ginger species in a warm, moist environment and likes some shade. The rootstock (rhizome) grows just below the ground. The plant grows to about 2 meters high and has elongated and pointed leaves, like bamboo. Close to the ground trumpet-like flowers form, which seem to come directly from the ground, but are on stalks. They are 15 cm long and light purple and soon fall off to make room for large reddish-brown 'pods' (10 cm). These contain reddish-brown seeds in a jelly-like liquid, the grain of paradise.

It takes three years for sown plants to yield a usable harvest. From then on, harvesting can continue for four years. The pods are picked when they are ripe. A modest portion is sold fresh in West Africa, the lion's share is laid out to dry in the sun.

Unique. It is not always possible to obtain this, but the paradise grain we currently supply is not cultivated but comes from wild picking!

Paradise grain has a stronger and spicier taste than regular pepper due to the ketone paradol, an antioxidant found only in these peppers and in ginger.

The grain of paradise is closely related to other African pepper plants, the Aframomum danielli, whose seeds are called mbongo or alligator pepper, and the very rare Aframomum angustifolium, the Madagascar cardamom. Grain of paradise is rarely sold unpeeled, as a rule only the loose seeds are available, also with us.

Smell and taste

Paradise grain is a spice that smells of forest and wet wood. It tastes sharp at first, then pleasant citrus notes and  notes of cinnamon, cloves and cardamom (a distant relative) emerge. The aftertaste is pleasant. Some of the flavor and aroma defining essential oils in grain of paradise are:

• [6]-paradol, the dominant pungent, is also found in ginger,
  
• [6]-gingerol, better known as the pungency of ginger, when dried converts to [6]-shoagol, twice as pungent as gingerol
  
• β-caryophyllene, sweet spicy and woody
• linalyl acetate, responsible for a pleasant citrus, bergamot and lavender scent,
• sabinene, responsible for the woody, camphor-like taste of black pepper and nutmeg, among other things
• β-myrcene, spicy aroma, with notes of fruits (mango, grape, peach) and mint,
• α-caryophyllene (humulene), hops, as in beer and cannabis
• d-limonene, responsible for the citrus aromas,

To reach the grains,  the shell of the seed pod is removed and the core of the fruit is flattened.  This must be done carefully, because it is important to keep the seeds as intact as possible so that they can be separated from the rest of the contents of the capsule.

The grains are ground like peppercorns.A good ras el hanout contains grain of paradise, which in Morocco is called 'gouza sahraouia'. In many versions of ras el hanout it is now replaced by Asian cubeb pepper, or black pepper. Grain of paradise is making a comeback, not only in African cuisines, but also in beers, spirits and in European cuisine.

Paradise grain is delicious with lamb dishes, courgette, potatoes and aubergine.

Features:

• 100% fruits of the Aframomum meleguetta (unpeeled)
• origin: cameroon

Assortment

• available in glass, stand-up pouch and test tube
• glass jar contains 75 grams
• stand-up pouches with a capacity of up to 30 to 500 grams
• available in 10 ml test tube
• 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 the pepper at the last moment to make the most of the aroma
• store the pepper in a dark, dry and cool place
  

Save:

• store your grains of paradise in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• at least good until November 2026 (11-2026)
• This expiration date is an indication

Would you like to know what paradise grain tastes like?