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| WILDCRAFTED BALINESE LONG PEPPER |
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The Queen of the Piper fruits…
Balinese Long Pepper or Piper retrofractum was once hailed by Romans as the ultimate peppery spice. Sadly these wild long peppers soon disappeared into culinary obscurity with the agricultural domestication of their cousin, the modern black peppercorn. To this day, Long Peppers refuse to play party to conventional agricultural ideals of planting and harvest…preferring to sprout where they will and trail lazily into the towering canopies of jungle trees. For Big Tree Farms, Balinese Long Peppers are the single most successful product to come from our Secondary Forest Products program. The program started in the highlands of Bali in jungle surrounding our organic farms. We learned about the wonderful peppers from the locals that worked on the land with us. |
The flavor of Balinese Long Pepper is deep and complex; simultaneously releasing an earthy pungency, a sweet hint of cardamom and nutmeg and the spicy heat of chili. The long peppers look like tiny cattails and once ground, roasted or simply snapped in two, they release an incredible floral bouquet. |
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They would collect a spike or two of the overly red-ripe pepper at lunchtime, mushing the soft fruit into a bowl of rice…heat, sweet and pungency with an incredible floral aroma…we were hooked and began using the fresh spice in our farm restaurant, Firefly Supper Series. Chefs began asking and the rest is history…The spice that was found and lost has been found once again…
Today, our hunt for wild long peppers stretches all over Indonesia with an open invitation for all our producers to join us in the harvest and celebration of this naturally occurring treasure. |
Using your Long Peppers
• Manual grinding of Long Peppers is best if corns are first rough chopped.
• For best results with manual grinding use the William Bounds™ Multi-Purpose Mill.
• Electric spice mills are a great way to grind a lot of Long Pepper at once.
• Simply snap the Peppers in two and use as you would a bay leaf in any soup or stew.
• Mortar and Pestles are the traditional equipment of choice for grinding Long Peppers!
Pepper Pairings
LAMB CHOPS ▪ PORK LOIN ▪ GOATS CHEESE ▪ PATES ▪
PICKLES ▪ VEGETABLE SOUPS AND PUREES ▪ MASHED POTATOES ▪
BALSALMIC VINAIGRETTE ▪ CHOCOLATE ▪ POACHED FRUITS IN SYRUP ▪
PEARS ▪ STRAWBERRIES ▪ CHERRIES |
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