Cape long pepper (timiz)

This Cape long (forest) pepper is a sharp, ripe pepper with a complex flavour. The catkins are much longer than the catkins of the Asian long peppers, about 10 cm long on average.

The Cape long pepper (Piper capense) is a perennial, evergreen climbing plant with broad green leaves. In shrub form it grows 2 to 4 meters high. The inflorescence is spike-shaped. During the rainy season, the small flowers are hidden under the scales under which the seeds are also trapped in winter. They are reminiscent of willow catkins.

The catkins contain round to oval seeds with a diameter of 2 mm. They are harvested whole in January, with a short piece of stem attached, and are traded both fresh and dried.

The Cape long pepper grows in a zone from West Africa to Ethiopia, and is also found in South Africa, hence the botanical name Piper capense. In southern Africa, the plant flowers from August to February and bears fruit from October to June. It can even flower all year round if enough water is available.

In addition to the Piper capense, the Piper umbellatum also grows in Ethiopia, an originally South American pepper variety. Timiz is very popular in Ethiopia,  in contrast to the South American pepper, which is hardly collected, let alone eaten. People are fond of the Asian long peppers, which are usually sweeter and are imported in large numbers.

Most of the timiz in Ethiopia comes from the rainforest of Bonga. Due to the weather conditions, it is almost impossible for the farmers in Bonga to dry the peppers in the sun, which happens elsewhere. Drying in the sun takes ten to twenty days, depending on the number of hours of sunshine. The quality of drying in the sun is usually variable, because the conditions are difficult to monitor. Therefore, after cleaning, the peppers are usually placed on a bed of wood and bamboo to be dried over an open fire. This drying process only takes a few days and is more controlled. The sun-dried peppers are very popular for their fresher color and more complex aroma, but rare.

Odor and taste

This long pepper is not that sharp. The first impression you get of this pepper is that of a smoky, camphor-bitter pepper, a bit like African cubeb or Ashanti pepper. Gradually you also taste notes of tobacco and resin. These are the most important seasonings: 

• α- and β-pinene, woody pine scent, as in cumin, juniper and hemp,
• sabinene, responsible for the woody, camphorous taste of black pepper, among others
• germacrene D, spicy woody
  
• α-cubebone, camphorous, like cubebpepper,
• β-caryophyllene, sweet spicy and woody
• safrole, sasafras aroma, also present in cinnamon and nutmeg,
  

Culinary use and preparation

Because of its intense flavour, the pepper is rarely used in Ethiopia by itself, but in the spice mixtures berbere and mekelesha, a mixture of timiz, cinnamon, cloves , black pepper, nutmeg, black onion seed and black cardamom.

The easiest way to use long pepper is to cut or break the pepper into pieces and then pound or grind these pieces, for example in a coffee grinder that you have specially designed for grinding spices.

Cape long pepper combines excellently with lamb, goat meat, fresh goat cheese (in combination with olive oil and green herbs), duck, game and in general dishes in which cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg (ehuru) are (can) be used. become.

Attributes:

• 100% pepper berries from the Piper capense 
  
• origin: Ethiopia

Assortment

• available in glass and pouch (no test tubes)
  
• glass jar contains 30 grams
• stand-up pouches with a content of up to 30 to 300 grams
• larger quantities on request

Gift Wrap

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

General advice

• use long pepper whole or broken. When you grind the pepper, grind your pepper shortly before use, and store what you have ground too much in a tightly closed jar.
  
• whole or broken pepper is best used in stews, so that the pepper has time to integrate,
• add ground long pepper to your preparation at the very last minute

Save:

• keep your long pepper in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before November2026 (11/26)
• this expiration date is an indication