Balsamic Pepper

What is balsamic pepper?

Balsamic pepper is a spice that comes from Cameroon. It has beautiful berries with warm colors that will revolutionize your cooking. In this country, it is an essential pepper. Here, it comes to raise the famous chicken DG, this stew of fried chicken served with plantains and vegetables. The chicken DG (Director General), bears this name because it was intended, at its creation in the 1980s, for people of high social rank. The Bamilékés, a Cameroonian people who are none other than the largest ethnic group in the country, are particularly fond of balsamic pepper, both in cooking and in providing ancestral care. Note that, despite its name, it is not really a pepper since it is not from the piper negrum family. It comes from the Zanthoxylum fagara, a species of woody plant that belongs to the Rutaceae family. Balsamic pepper is actually a berry. Good to know: the Rutaceae family includes 900 species. Citrus fruits belong to this family as well as the famous Sichuan pepper which comes from China.

What is the flavor of balsamic pepper?

Balsamic pepper has fruity, spicy and... balsamic notes. Quite pungent and complex, it reveals quite surprising flavors, but interesting to say the least.

The harvest of balsamic pepper in the plantations

The balsamic pepper, despite its name, is not a pepper, but a berry. It is not cultivated in a traditional way, it is rather a wild pepper. It grows wild throughout Cameroon, but mainly in the department of Mungo and on the coast. The harvested berry is round and has a small brown tail like the cubeb pepper.

How to use balsamic pepper in cooking?

Balsamic pepper is very versatile. It is the perfect complement to all your dishes. If you wish to be inspired by Cameroonian cuisine, you can make the famous DG chicken. We suggest you to make a Cameroonian Koki, also called Cornille cake. It is a dish made with flat beans, palm oil and balsamic pepper that you can eat with plantain. Another Cameroonian dish to discover: the ndolé. It is composed of ndolé leaves, meat or fish, peanut paste, dried shrimp and garlic. The balsamic pepper gives it this power and this character which make all the difference. Naturally, you can imagine balsamic pepper in a vinaigrette, sauce or marinade. If you like spices and strong, pronounced flavors, marinate a beef skewer with this pepper. In desserts, this berry also finds its place. In a chocolate dessert or in a strawberry jam to break the sometimes too sweet taste, balsamic pepper is perfect.

The conservation of balsamic pepper

Balsamic pepper should preferably be kept away from light and humidity. I offer it to you in a resealable airtight bag which offers a very good conservation in the best conditions.