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The species Piper longum is of South Asian origin (Dekkan penisular), whereas the closely related Piper retrofractum comes from South East Asia and is mostly cultivated in Indonesia and Thailand. Both species are often not clearly distinguished in the spice trade. http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Pipe_lon.html 'Long pepper probably came to Europe before the now dominant black pepper. It was highly priced during the Roman Empire – about three times the price of black pepper. With its taste pungent and sweet at the same time, it was perfect for Roman cookery especially fond of these two taste sensations (see silphion for details). In our days, long pepper is nearly unknownand sometimes hard to obtain. Since terpene components are missing in its aroma, long pepper cannot be substituted by ordinary black pepper (you may try white pepper plus a little bit of mace, though). Its hot-and-sweet taste goes well with spicy cheese specialities (it's a ''secret'' of my personal cheese fondue mixture) or wine sauces. In Asia, two different plants with exactly the same sensoric properties are used: Piper retrofractum from Indonesia has rods a little bit smaller than Piper longum from India (bengal pepper). In Western countries, mostly the latter is available. Since long pepper is more pungent than black pepper, it must be used with care, unless you like fiery food. Crush the rods before use. In India, the main application for long pepper are pickles (in Hindi, achar). Rather remarkably, long pepper is also known and popular in parts of Africa, namely in the Islâmic regions of North and East Africa, whereto it has been introduced by Arab traders. Therefore, long pepper is sometimes found in the complex spice mixtures of Morocco (ras el hanout, see cubeb pepper); but it is also of some importance for the cuisine of Ethiopia, where long pepper is usually found in the traditional meat stews (wat), mostly together with black pepper, nutmeg, cloves and turmeric; the usage of turmeric exemplifies Indian influence in Ethiopian cuisine. Spice usage in Ethiopia (and its neighbour Eritrea) furthermore parallels India: For example, the classical Ethiopian spice mixture berebere resembles Indian masalas (see cumin) not only in its list of ingredients, but also in its preparation process. Berebere is a really hot mixture and traditionally used to spice mutton dishes; it is made by roasting dry chiles a few minutes until they darken and subsequent adding of long and black pepper, ginger, coriander fruits, fenugreek and a little bit of ajwain. Sweet tones, which are essential for the cooking styles of all Arabic nations, are achieved by cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cloves and even allspice. Some recipes (maybe the more authentic ones?) also ask for rue leaves or fruits. After a few more minutes of dry roasting, all the spices are ground together.' In Ayurveda, Piper longum is traditionally used to promote respiratory and digestive health. I
Manufacturer: Bazaar of India SKU: 39437 Category: Spices-All Bulk Spices
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