Balinese Long Peppers are wild-crafted in the “kebuns”,
or food forests, that dominate each and every village in Bali. The
Latin name for these dried fruits is Piper retrofractum…not
to be mistaken for Indian Long Pepper or Piper longum. The difference
between the two long peppers is fundamental… fruits of Piper
retrofractum have a more complex flavor than that of Piper longum
and indeed are even more pungent than the fruits its closest botanical
relative, common Black Peppercorn.
Traditionally, Balinese Long Peppers are used either fresh,
when the infructescence has turned red-ripe or sun-dried. In both
cases Long Peppers play a crucial role in developing the aromatics
of many Indonesian dishes from curries and meat sauces to pickles
and sweets.
There are many ways to unleash the
flavors of Long Pepper into your recipes; you need only snap one
in half to understand that there is a huge amount of flavor in each
piece. But here are a few suggestions to speed you on your way:
• Simply crack Long Peppers
in half and use them as you would a Bay Leaf in any dish. Just be
sure to take the spice halves out before serving or someone can
end up with a mouthful of heat!
• Long Peppers can be rough-chopped with a chef’s knife
into small pieces and then loaded into a good quality Peppermill.
Just be sure the pieces are chopped fine enough to allow for dropping
into the bottom grinding chamber.
• Long Peppers can be either ground fine with a mortar and
pestle (our personal favorite method) or similarly, ground fine
using an electric spice or coffee grinder.
We hope this helps you to better understand and appreciate Balinese
Long Peppers.
For more information on some of our favorite recipes including Long
Pepper,
please visit our website:
www.bigtreebali.com
|
