Bahia black Pepper (Jacques Vabre), 70 g

In the Transatlantic Jacques Vabre boat race, it is the Class 40 Terre Exotique that sailed us to Bahia, a federal state of Brazil, in the South of the North Eastern region, on the Atlantic coast. We brought back Bahia black pepper, a pepper from the piper nigrum family grown by our farmer friends. At the heart of the plantations, under the perfect warmth of the sun, the pepper develops drupes of generous peppercorns. Picked when they are still green, these slightly unripe berries with a well-formed heart, are then left out to dry in the sun for a few days. The pericarp of these peppercorns turns from green to black, and the water contained in each peppercorn evaporates giving them a slightly wrinkly aspect. After the harvest and the drying process, come the calibration and sorting stages which are done by the expert hands of the local Bahian women. The unique soils of Bahia give this black pepper a distinctive aromatic footprint with is both floral and fruity, and almost pharmaceutical. The fresh, wild and intense flavours of this powerful hot pepper will go perfectly with all types of dishes, mainly savoury. It is best added just before serving to release the full wealth of its organoleptic range of aromas.