This is a climbing perennial plant native to the islands of Java, Sumatra and Borneo. It is grown on trees which shade plantations of other plants from the tropical sun. Of all the peppers used in cookery this is the most aromatic, which accounts, perhaps, for its lack of popularity in Europe.
The first to know and use long pepper, apart from the natives, were the Persians, followed by the Greeks, who called it `peperl', or rather `peperi makron', meaning large pepper, in order to distinguish it from black pepper. The Romans, who were introduced to it by the ancient Greeks, changed the name paperi to piper and called it Piper longum.
According to old English recipes the leaves may be pickled like capers. They may be used as a delicate flavouring in creamed vegetable soups and in piquant mayonnaises served with meat and fish. When using purslane in cooked foods the finely chopped leaves should be added at the end of cooking to retain their delicate flavour and precious vitamins.
Besides being far more pungent, pepper cubeb is also morphologically different from black pepper and long pepper. Though the fruits (berries) resemble those of black pepper they appear to have long stalks (these stalks arc actually elongated ovaries). They are harvested before they ripen so that the surface becomes wrinkled during the drying process.
Both species of long pepper are very hot, the same as black pepper, and also very aromatic. Their pungency is produced by the alkaloid piperine and the resin they contain, their aroma by a volatile oil, which is why pepper that has been stored for a long period or in an unsuitable container is not aromatic but only hot to the tongue.
For this reason it is recommended to buy peppers whole, not ground, and to grind them just before use. - 16035
The first to know and use long pepper, apart from the natives, were the Persians, followed by the Greeks, who called it `peperl', or rather `peperi makron', meaning large pepper, in order to distinguish it from black pepper. The Romans, who were introduced to it by the ancient Greeks, changed the name paperi to piper and called it Piper longum.
According to old English recipes the leaves may be pickled like capers. They may be used as a delicate flavouring in creamed vegetable soups and in piquant mayonnaises served with meat and fish. When using purslane in cooked foods the finely chopped leaves should be added at the end of cooking to retain their delicate flavour and precious vitamins.
Besides being far more pungent, pepper cubeb is also morphologically different from black pepper and long pepper. Though the fruits (berries) resemble those of black pepper they appear to have long stalks (these stalks arc actually elongated ovaries). They are harvested before they ripen so that the surface becomes wrinkled during the drying process.
Both species of long pepper are very hot, the same as black pepper, and also very aromatic. Their pungency is produced by the alkaloid piperine and the resin they contain, their aroma by a volatile oil, which is why pepper that has been stored for a long period or in an unsuitable container is not aromatic but only hot to the tongue.
For this reason it is recommended to buy peppers whole, not ground, and to grind them just before use. - 16035
