





Where to use Cubeb pepper
Explore its herby honey flavours
Its flavours are both
mild yet rich, making it perfect with both sweet and savoury dishes. Local people
infuse it as a remedy for fever, to ease digestion and they even chew it like
a sweet.
How to get the best
from your Cubeb pepper
Our recipe ideas for
Cubeb pepper:
·
Strawberry cubeb smoothie: add half a teaspoon of Cubeb pepper to your
blender and whizz;
·
Gooey peppery chocolate cake: add 4 ground Cubeb peppercorns to the chocolate
and butter then melt over a low heat;
·
Wok-fried vegetables: add a teaspoon of ground Cubeb pepper to the wok
with the vegetables before frying;
·
Chocolate mousse: add half a teaspoon of ground Cubeb pepper to your melted
chocolate;
·
Apple compote: add a teaspoon of ground Cubeb pepper to your apples
before cooking them;
·
Seabass with Cubeb pepper: crack 3g of Cubeb pepper and place in a saucepan
with shallots, white wine, white vinegar, salt and aromatic herbs then leave to
reduce;
·
Port flambéed melon with Cubeb pepper: caramelize some honey in a frying
pan, add a teaspoon of cracked Cubeb pepper and add the slices of melon to
the pan. Flambé with port and reduce, constantly basting the melon.
Chicken with walnuts
and goat’s cheese in a Vouvray sauce
Ingredients
For the vegetables:
4 black radishes;
1 lemon (juice);
10g butter;
1 teaspoon sugar.
For the stuffed
chicken breasts:
60g fresh goat’s
cheese;
30g gingerbread;
10g chervil;
30g walnuts;
4 chicken breasts (150g);
10g butter.
Vouvray sauce:
1 shallot;
5g butter;
15cl Vouvray wine;
6 Cubeb peppercorns;
10cl single cream.
Method
Peel the black
radishes, rinse and place in a bowl of cold water with lemon juice so that
they don’t go brown, then strain. Fry pan with 2 tablespoons of water and butter.
Deglaze at the end with sugar, covering them well with the butter and sugar
sauce. Set aside.
The stuffed chicken:
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Cut the goat’s cheese
and gingerbread into small cubes and chop the chervil and the walnuts. Then
put them all in a dish. Add salt and freshly ground Cubeb pepper. Mix well to
form the stuffing. Fillet the chicken breasts and fill them with this stuffing.
Place the stuffed chicken breasts in a casserole dish with the stuffing side
down. Spread with butter and salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 7 to
8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside in another dish and cover to
allow the Cubeb pepper to infuse.
Use the casserole
dish for the sauce. Fry the chopped shallots in butter over a low heat. Then
when soft, add the white wine and deglaze. Leave to reduce to half the sauce
then add the chicken stock and cream. Reduce again, season with salt and
freshly ground Cubeb pepper.
Pour the sauce over
the chicken breasts and serve immediately.
Smoked
and fruity notes
Cubeb pepper has fruity aromas
with notes of honey and smoked tea or herbal tea. Its delicate hints of sweet
spiciness and resin are perfect with lobster tails, Asian dishes, exotic
fruit compote or a chocolate and mint dessert.
The aromatic footprint of this pepper
is slightly spicy with notes of menthol, and goes deliciously with chocolate mousse,
or wok fried vegetables.
Cubeb pepper or Indonesian pepper
Cubeb pepper is harvested
before fully ripe then dried and ground. The Indonesians also chew it
directly like a sweet. This little tailed pepper grows mainly in South-West India,
in Sumatra, Java or Borneo.
The botanical name
of Cubeb pepper is Piper cubeba L.. It grows in the wild in the heart of the tropical
forest as a creeper which climbs up trees as high as 10 metres. Harvesting Cubeb
pepper requires great dexterity and lasts for about 1 month. The drupes of Cubeb
pepper are harvested once they start to turn red, towards the month of June.
Each pepper plant
produces on average 50kg of fresh pepper. Around 4kg of fresh pepper is
needed to obtain 1kg of dried pepper. The peppercorns are left out to dry in
the sun for 3 to 4 days so that the moisture can evaporate.
Where
does cubeb pepper come from?
The story behind this
surprising little pepper
Cubeb pepper is a
false pepper, as it is not part of the Piper
nigrum family!
It was imported to Europe
by the Arabs in the Middle Ages, solely for medicinal purposes for
respiratory problems or for witchcraft, for example to make love potions. In
the 17th century, Cubeb pepper became rare because the King of Portugal decided
to prohibit the use of Cubeb in favour of black pepper which he traded. Nowadays,
Cubeb pepper is widely used in North African cuisine, for example it is used
in the raz-el-hanout spice blend.
Cubeb pepper grows
on creepers in Indonesia and is harvested before it is fully ripe then dried
in the sun which is what produces its dark colour.
Native country | Indonésie |
---|---|
Genus and botanical species | Piper cubeba |
Nutritional Info | / |
Ingredients | cubebe pepper |
Allergen | Absence |
TRACES EVENTUELLES D'ALLERGÈNES | céleri, sésame, moutarde, fruits à coques. |