Red Kampot Pepper PGI

The Cambodian red Kampot pepper is visibly derived from the ripe, red fruit. In terms of sharpness, it is comparable to the black variant, but it is a bit sweeter. The pepper contains taste and fragrance notes of flowers, eucalyptus and mint.

The Kampot pepper, which is called Mrech Kampot in Khmer, is named after Kampot, a place and region in the south of Cambodia. The peppers come from small-leaved pepper plants of the Piper variety Lampong or large-leaved plants of the Kamchay variety.

Other peppers of the Lampong type are the Muntok pepper from the Indonesian Bangka and Sarawak pepper from Borneo. Lampong peppers bear somewhat smaller berries than most pepper varieties, often of different sizes.

The red Kampot pepper is given four months to ripen after the green peppers have been picked. They are therefore sweeter and have a beautiful color.

Kampot pepper has been called the world's best pepper, a reputation built in Indochinese times, when the Cambodian pepper was the first choice for any self-respecting French restaurant. Kampot is included in the 'Ark of taste'.

Our Kampot peppers come from one of the many family businesses with a pepper plantation. These are from farmers who, after the fall of the Khmer Rouge and the withdrawal of the Vietnamese, started growing pepper again instead of rice. Because the Khmer rouge had focused all their arrows on the cultivation of rice, the cultivation of pepper in Cambodia had virtually disappeared.

Pepper is cultivated in an ancient way. The land is still irrigated in the traditional way, without the use of pesticides. Only natural raw materials from plants and crayfish are used to fertilize the land, which can be found on a large scale on the many rice paddies in the area.

Why not organic?

The reason for this is quite simple. Most of Cambodia's nearly 350 family-owned pepper-growing businesses, according to PGI, are unable to meet the requirements of international organic standards, at least not without major investment. Even though there is the possibility of micro-credit, this has not proved feasible for most family businesses. Most organic Kampot therefore comes from a few larger companies.

Developments

In addition to the protected Kampot pepper IPG, the European market has recently seen more and more pepper offered that does come from this region, but outside the quality control of the Kampot Pepper Association.

Usage

Red kampot pepper is somewhere between black and white pepper. This makes the pepper suitable for all kinds of sauces, tomato dishes, white and red meat, sardines, anchovies, soups and vegetable dishes.

The pepper is a delight in sweet preparations, from chocolate desserts and red fruits.

Attributes:

• 100% ripe fruits (berries) of the Piper nigrum.
• protected by the European PGI label (international: PGI)
• origin: Kampot region, Cambodia

Assortment

• available in glass, pouch and test tube
• glass jar contains 60 grams
• stand-up pouches with a content of up to 30 to 500 grams
• available in 10 ml test tube
• 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

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

Save:

• keep your kampot pepper in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before February 2026 (02/26)
• this best before date is an indication

Would you like to know how this kampot pepper tastes?

Could you also try a test tube. The tube contains enough pepper to fathom the flavor essence.