Cubeb

Cubeb pepper or “tailed pepper” is harvested on the island of Java in Indonesia. This rare pepper is the fruit of the Piper cubeba plant, a creeper from the piperaceae family. Cubeb is originally from India. It is also known as: Kubeben pepper, tailed pepper and Java pepper.

This rare pepper releases spicy notes and menthol flavours. It also grows in the wild in Myanmar, in Sri Lanka and on the island of Borneo. It was the Arabs who first brought Cubeb pepper to Europe in the Middle Ages. They called it “Kbeb”.

It is still widely used in North Africa, particularly in the famous Ras-el-Hanout spice mix. In the 17th century the King of Portugal forbid the trade of Cubeb in favour of pepper (Piper nigrum).