Cubeb Pepper

What is cubeb pepper?

Cubeb pepper is also called tailed pepper because of its shape. It has a grain topped by a small tail. This pepper is produced in Indonesia on the islands of Java or Sumatra. Although it is named like this, it is not a pepper. This is also the case for Sichuan pepper or Sansho pepper, as these spices are not members of the piper negrum family. In fact, it is a berry of the piper cubeba type. This pepper is very appreciated by Asians who use it massively in their cooking. If it was imported by the Arabs in the Middle Ages in Europe, it has disappeared for several centuries and is still very confidential here. It does not have the reputation of a Sichuan pepper or a Timut pepper. On the other hand, the Arabs continue to use it, this berry is very present in the Maghreb cuisine.

What is the flavor of cubeb pepper?

The cubeb pepper is a berry with very aromatic notes of conifer, clove and menthol. It offers very particular flavors to your cooking, between freshness and bitterness.

Harvesting cubeb pepper in the plantations

The cubeb pepper berries grow on vines of the piperaceae family and form beautiful clusters that are harvested before they are ripe when they are still green. They are then dried in the sun to take on this darker color. These berries have the particularity of being presented with a small tail. The cubeb pepper is a rare pepper.

How to use cubeb pepper in cooking?

I mentioned it to you, this Indonesian pepper is today privileged in the Maghrebian kitchen. Thus, it is found in the famous ras el-hanout with chilli, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Thus, this berry can be added to an oriental lentil soup or a delicious eggplant caviar that you will serve as an aperitif on a lightly toasted bread. You can also imagine it with a baked chicken with pepper and honey to merge all oriental cuisines. This is the interest of this spice that offers you a real trip while staying at the table. Of course, the Asian cuisine is quite appropriate to the use of cubeb pepper. It comes to perfume a shrimp curry with Cantonese rice. It can also be used in desserts to enhance a fruit salad or a fruit and chocolate pie.

The health benefits of cubeb pepper

Although it is not a real pepper, cubeb pepper has antioxidant properties and aids digestion. In Asia, it is used in medicine to treat respiratory ailments. It is also a very good painkiller that can relieve headaches and dental pain.

The conservation of cubeb pepper

Like any spice, it is preferable to keep cubeb pepper away from light and humidity. I deliver it to you in an airtight bag, you can choose to put it in a cupboard or simply to put it immediately in a pepper pot in order to grind it. This pepper pot will be preferably opaque to preserve the taste and properties of this Indonesian berry.

Origin of this pepper Indonesia, islands of Sumatra or Java mainly.

Other names of cubeb pepper Cubeb, embèbe, tailed pepper, Java pepper, Kissi pepper.

Cubeb pepper: is it spicy? Not very pungent, this pepper is slightly bitter