A new spice shop opened here recently and I went down to see if there was anything delicious and fragrant I could bring to you people. I found several things I’d been looking for — sichuan peppers, nigella seeds, aleppo pepper — all of which we’ll discuss at a later date, and one I didn’t even know existed that I am very excited to tell you about right now.
Long pepper is only one of its names. It also goes by Balinese pepper, Bengal pepper, Jaborandi pepper, Indian long pepper, and various combinations thereof, none of which appear in the indices of any of my many cookbooks and ingredient guides. The internets seem to agree that it is widely employed in Asia for stir fries and pickling, and is featured in North African spice blends such as Ras el Hanout and Berbere.1 The same sources repeat the story that it was the pepper preferred by the Romans, and some add that it was the spice the world thought of as “pepper,” until cultivation methods made the black pepper we are accustomed to today far more widely available. I have a feeling limited availability might explain long pepper’s absence from my cookbooks. (If you are familiar with it, or come from a part of the world where it is commonly employed, do comment.)
At any rate, there it was, on the wall of glass jars devoted to peppercorns. Its exotic catkin-like shape drew my eye — wait, what on earth is that? But it was the sensuous cloud of fragrance that emerged from the jar when the sales assistant began measuring out my order that made me double it on the spot.
I have seen long pepper’s flavor described variously as flowery, earthy, or “possessing a cardamom-like sweet undertone,” but no one describes its amazing smell, which is a combination of all of these — earth, flowers, cardamom — wrapped in a thick veil of musky, waxy, fattiness with just enough goat to keep things interesting. In fact, the scent of whole long pepper resembles nothing so much as a slightly spicy version of labdanum, the aromatic resin traditionally used to give amber perfume its animalic depth or lend a sweet, smooth leather note.
I could smell my long pepper in the car, straight through the plastic of the small, half ounce bag I bought. I could smell it on my hands after I put the bag away in the pantry. And I could smell it every time I opened the pantry door over the next week, while I figured out how to get that insistent gorgeousness into my mouth.
Most of the cooking advice I found suggested breaking, grinding or crushing the pepper. I did so, and made a delicious steak poivre, but the rich notes so present in the fragrance, while an excellent match for the meat, were disappointingly vague, nearly obliterated by prickly heat.
Clearly, large amounts of the aromatics I was after were on the surface of the pepper. I decided a gentle simmering of the unbroken peppers was in order, perhaps with some sweetness in the liquid to balance out the heat and help the other notes to the fore. That thick scent called out for the matching thickness of honey. Some earthy red wine wouldn’t be amiss either, I thought. So I tried this:
Poached Pears with Whole Long Pepper
2 large firm pears, peeled, but left whole. I used Anjou pears, but as long as they aren’t soft any pear will do. You may core them from the bottom if you wish.
1 cup red wine
1 cup honey
2 cups water. Add more if necessary to float pears.
10 whole long pepper “catkins”
4 ounces mild, creamy, unflavored goat cheese
Mix the honey, wine and water together. Bring very briefly to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Add pears and pepper. Let simmer gently, uncovered, on the lowest setting for 20-30 minutes or until pears are tender but not falling apart — poke with a fork to test. You will want to roll the pears over every ten minutes or so to make sure they absorb the liquid equally on all sides. Or you could do as the excellent David Lebovitz suggests and cut a parchment paper circle to drape on top of the pears. Do not, however, start a small fire by cutting your parchment over the open gas flame beneath the already simmering pears. Ahem.2
Once the pears are simmering retire to the couch, read that book you’ve been meaning to start, and wait for the moment — it won’t be long — when the wine and honey come together to turn that barnyard touch in the peppers to velvet. Or you might, as I did, throw away that stinky thing you’ve been ignoring in the fridge — in my case a pot of beans gone fuzzy with mold — and then, when you walk back in the house after taking out the toxic garbage, notice with wonder and gratitude how that velvet scent has filled the entire house.
When the pears are done, remove and store upright in the fridge. Remove all but two or three of the peppers and reserve. Turn up the heat and let the remaining syrup boil down until it reduces by about half or is thick enough to coat a spoon. When reduced, the syrup will be a splendid dark ruby color and taste exactly like the thing you have been smelling for the past half an hour, but more so, with a bare hint of heat and a lingering resonance that goes on and on at the back of your throat. It will happily reside in your fridge where that stinky thing used to be for several weeks if you do not devour it before then on yogurt, crepes, ice cream, strawberries, spoons…
Before serving allow pears and syrup to come to room temp. Halve pears, top hollows with goat cheese, drizzle with a generous amount of syrup, and garnish with peppers.
The sweet muskiness of the syrup is both tempered and echoed by the creamy goat cheese and the flavor of the pear. Together they become one of those things that tastes far more delicious and sophisticated than it has a right to given how simple it is to put together. Frankly, I was torn between greedily devouring all of the results and showing them off to as many people as possible. It’s that good.
Long peppers can be ordered here and here.
Note: The amounts I list here are fungible and slightly eccentric. I started with only two pears because I didn’t want to make a lot of an experimental dish. I used less wine than most poaching recipes call for because a cup was all I had, and I upped the amount of honey because I wanted a sweeter poaching syrup to kill the heat of the pepper. Please experiment as you see fit. Also, I used a fairly neutral orange blossom honey and Spanish table wine, but it might be interesting to try a stronger, darker honey or an earthier wine.
1. See, for example, here, here, and here.
2. Post-fire, my parchment circle didn‘t seem to help much so I discarded it.
Another note: all images taken by the author.
63 Comments
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Oh, yum! Those peppers sound amazing, and I never would have thought to pair poached pears with goat cheese, but I’ll have to try it sometime soon. I poached some pears last week in merlot, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and cloves and the reduction syrup was so good! I bet a little peppery kick would have made it even better.
Yum, that combination sounds delicious, and yes, can totally imagine a little kick of regular black pepppercorns in there.
In order to get a “kick” from long pepper, you have to grind or break it up. Otherwise it’s mostly that labdanum-like flavor I describe above.
I think I would add a tiny bit of red pepper for the kick. I know this makes me an oddball, but I don’t like the flavor or scent of black pepper at all.
Yum. Maybe try Aleppo, which is very fragrant, citrusy, almost floral. Or you could try white pepper. It shows up in a lot of Japanese dishes where just that delicate kick is needed.
I seond this. I was thinking “Yes, but white pepper” as I was reading your comment, Rodelinda. Sometimes red is just too…assertively pepper, and not enough “more”. White pepper, with it’s mustiness, is usually right. Particularly if you have a good dry red wine that you’re cooking with.
How absolutely fascinating! I think I’m going to try to locate these peppers and prepare what you have created
Thank you so much!
I hope it turns out well for you! Isn’t it fun to discover a new flavor? I’m always ready to be amazed…
Oops! Sweetlife c’est moi. Forgot to log out before replying to comments.
Incredible! I hadn’t heard of long peppers. I wonder how they’d do infused in olive oil or in vinegar.
Great idea! A gentle infusion in olive oil (so the oil isn’t *too* hot) would make a great base for a salad dressing.
God, key word there, that gentle.
(even the memories of my habanero olive oil make my eyes water.)
Ha! Sorry to laugh at your misfortune Kate, but that sounds like something I would do.
Long pepper is fairly low on the heat scale, about the same place as regular black pepper, though the heat hits differently–more toward the back of the throat. Since I regularly heat up black pepper in oil for Cacio e Pepe I think you probably will be OK trying the same with long pepper.
LOL! Hey, it didn’t smell that hot!
I am considering getting some of the long pepper to try (CAKE!!!!), but I really need to do some serious downsizing of my spice/tea cabinet.
But mother’s day is coming up…I love making the assembly go “what’s that?”
Hee, hee! But you’re right. Habanero’s smell quite innocent, almost floral, none of those sharp, almost burnt notes that jalapenos and poblanos have. And they’re so pretty!
Will you soak the long pepper in butter and then use that in the cake? Or maybe, how about this, a nut-based torte. Or you could follow ChefJohn below and do a chocolate ganache kind of thing. Such an interesting idea!
Long story short…until they stop asking for it every Mother’s Day, no more chocolate cake! I am not a lover of chocolate, and that cake is too much work to do, for something I do not enjoy.
My original idea for this year was a blood orange chiffon cake with a Grand Marnier sugar glaze, but I got bored with that idea. I’ve been playing around with other ideas, from a sand cake, to a browned butter pound cake with a tangerine creme Anglaise for serving, but now, after this post, I’m thinking spice cake. Particularly with the mentions of clotted cream on this same thread. I’m thinking I would do a double or triple infusion, I love getting more punch in my cakes, and spice cake in particular I like to have bite to. I could steep some in the butter, some in the cream, and some in the sugar, if I remember to put a couple of them catkins in the sugar canister (or better yet a smaller jar with my sugar measured out into it already. Hmm…..)
Of course, then the icing would need to be reconsidered. I can’t fill something with a spiced clotted cream, and then spakk cream cheese icing on the top of it, that wouldn’t be right. Maybe just coat it in a lightly sweetened meringue made with a fortified liquor background, maybe something faintly anise-y. And then torch to crispness?…that actually sounds rather tasty.
I like the way you think, KateReed!
The reason I suggested chocolate is that long pepper has, as I noted above, a touch of gaminess that requires some body to balance it. It’s not a sparky, spiky kind of pepper. My second thought was citrus, but as you’ve nixed that, I would experiment with accompanying spices that might balance it, like ginger, and/or grind it before infusing to take more advantage of the spicy insides.
And then invite me over (to the UK?) for dessert!
LOL! Not the UK, do I really “sound” like that? I’m just over here in little old nowhere Iowa!
(and I have been known to “hide” unsweetened chocolate in non-chocolate things, so maybe a solution along those lines? Or could put a little coffee in cheesecloth in alongside the pepper, coffee is greatly handy sometimes when you don’t want to chocolate. It does need some playing with though…cupcakes, here I come!)
I agree with Rapp–maybe drizzled over a bitter green, like arugala, or a bright lemony one, like sorrel. Ooh, now I want to try the sorrel one. With some goat cheese. And a few walnuts. And maybe just a scattering of pomegranate seeds…
It sounds amazing! I love pairing pears with goat cheese… and this catkin pepper must be truly delicious.
Maybe I am so excited because I like the smell of galbanum so much?
In any case, love, love, love your recipe!
Dear Zazie, I am really hoping you meant to write “labdanum” instead of “galbanum,” or I am afraid you will be disappointed by these peppers. On the other hand, I just saw a recipe for dandelion greens pesto over on David Lebovitz’s site that would be just the thing…
Alyssa – I am gobsmacked with your culinary skills and imagination! This sounds absolutely divine. Fruit and cheese, especially goat, is my very favorite combination. I’ll have to look for long pepper here.
All the links below are mail order! Happy experimenting!
wow, thanks for the idea, I’ve tried to punch / crush / karaté-kill the (any unpolite adjective) peppers, but I’ve never thought of using them whole, I’m starting off right now to the kitchen!
So happy to inspire, Bee! Let us know if anything delicious results.
ooooh yes, and goat cheese is the perfect pairing! The next time I will probably slice the poached pears carpaccio-like and sprinkle bits of cheese over them, this might need a third ingredient, thouh, I’ll think about it!
Oh hooray, it worked for you! Third ingredient–maybe a nut, for some crunch? I almost added walnuts.
(Laments: Why didn’t I wait to go shopping for groceries until today?? I could have picked up some pears! and goat cheese!)
Thanks for the recipe and the smell-descriptions, Alyssa! Sounds like you really enjoyed your experiment.
Hee, hee! Poor Mals. But pears will be in season for a little longer, and the peppers will take a while in the mail.
I love having NST as an excuse to take risks in the kitchen.
And we NST’ers greatly appreciate your taking risks in the kitchen for us!
Holy cow. Wonderful post. I don’t know what to say, except thank you for the introduction.
You are going to be responsible for jump-starting my real cooking this week. Which, come to think of it, merits another thank you.
You are very welcome! I’m delighted that you enjoyed the post and are headed to to the kitchen.
I’m totally up for this….except the goat cheese….that part ain’t gonna happen…but the rest is YUM! Thanks Alyssa, for taking these kinds of risks for the greater good
Interesting, Daisy. Do I remember correctly that you don’t care much for that animalic tang as a scent either?
You could always substitute vanilla ice cream or a thick greek yogurt or sour cream–though I’d miss that bit of barnyard, myself!
… or clotted cream – I just made my own mouth water!
Rapp, clotted cream remains a mystery to me. I associate it with formal British tea service and believe I have only tasted it in my mind or seen it in movies. Do you make your own?
No, our local food co-op, where I shop, carries the Devon Clotted Cream. I only first had it last summer with fresh strawberries. YUM! It had a flavor similar to cream cheese.
Dang. Can’t believe my two super-fancy grocery stores don’t carry this. Probably I have been averting my eyes from the section marked “cream”….
I’m sure it is inferior to clotted cream from the market, but you can pick it up in a jar at World Market. Just saying, enter for chocolate, leave with dairy fat…
Or we could do this: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/clotted-cream-recipe/index.html
Bet it’s even more delicious if you have a safe (!) source of unpasteurized milk, which was the original way to do things…
Good memory! yes…grew up on a farm…so over the years I’ve cultivated (har, har) a dislike of barnyardy smells. I think I’d go for a big scoop of double vanilla ice cream….Ice cream makes all good things better.
*smile*
So excited to see this topic, Alyssa! Years ago, I came across this spice in Asmara, Eritrea, where it was, as you note, it was used to make berbere. Eritreans translated the name for it as “seven-spice” – a good indication of the complexity of the aroma. I always wondered what it was, and last year I finally found a picture of it on an Ethiopian food site. I’m very happy to learn so much more about it from your post.
Oh fantastic, thank you Noz! I was so hoping someone would chime in (and it looks like there is more below, yay!). I will have to start looking for it under the name “Seven Spice,” because I do believe I’ve heard that term before, and have always wondered what it’s relationship to Chinese Five Spice might be.
Of course now I’m dying to know what you were doing when you “came across” it in Eritrea…
Hi Alyssa, I have been cooking with long pepper for around 16 years since I first discovered it in West London being used by a Moroccan community, in ladbroke grove, there is also a shop called the spice shop where they sold the pepper as well as other interesting spices including seeds of paradise and Chinese Cardamon, I’ve been cooking all my life and have travelled extensively through, India and Asia, now living in Thailand. I use long pepper crushed and sprinkled liberally in a rice paper roll with raw, roasted and steamed vegetables and served with a plum, ginger juice and sesame oil dressing. It’s very popular and easy to make. I also use it in chocolate mousse and make my own spice blends similar to a Masala or Ras-el-hanout. her’s the recipe for the rice paper rolls.
1 Rice Paper
30g Asparagus
25g Peeled Tomato
20g Roast Red Pepper
20g Roast yellow Pepper
40g Beanshoots
10g Red Cabbage
3g Basil
3g Coriander
3g Dill
2Tsp. “Long Sarawak Pepper”
1g Malden salt
1g Black Peppercorns
15ml Red Pepper sauce
20g Mixed lettuce
1Dsp. Black Sesame seeds
1Dsp. Sesame Oil
Warm some water in a flat pan and remove from heat. Gently and carefully slide the rice paper through the warm water to soften the rice paper. Lay the softened rice paper on a wet board or stainless table.Lay alternately the carrot & cucumber ribbons on the rice paper.At the end nearest to you lay 3 tomato petals in a line. Top with beanshoots, red cabbage, asparagus, red & yellow pepper & herbs. Sprinkle with the long pepper, black pepper and salt. Moisten with a little of the plum sauce. Gently but firmly roll the ingredients up to form a tight rice paper roll.Trim the ends and then slice into 5 mini rolls. Take a plate and lay the rolls in a line, make a thin line of the red pepper sauce next to the rolls & sprinkle with some black sesame seeds. Garnish with the salad and a small bowl/shot glass of the plum ginger sauce.
Wow, thank you so much for commenting and for the recipe! So in your world it’s Long Sarawak Pepper? Is the “Sarawak” part of that equation Moroccan? I’m fascinated. Totally imagining that flavor with chocolate now and wow, you are genius. Maybe an ice cream…
Well I was sold it as sarawak long pepper in london, but the spice is native to the indian subcontinent but has been used pre round black pepper and most old roman , turkish and greek recipes that call for pepper really meant long pepper as round black pepper was not available in the west until early syrian colonisation of south india which introduced it to the Romans, Plus a funny fact is that its not a spice at all but a fruit! In Ayurvedic medicine it is commomly used as a life enhancer, as all things containing pippali.
This is terrific info, thank you! Did you just pick all this up as you were going along, or can you recommend something for me to read about that part of the world/cuisine? I’m very interested. There’s so much about fragrance in Ayurvedic medicine as well…
This sounds FABULOUS, ChefJonny – thank you! And what form of plum do you use for the dipping sauce?
Hi Nozknoz, I use the regular chinese plum dipping sauce out of the bottle, which i strain through a sieve, then i grate fresh ginger skin and all on the small grate size, then squeeze the ginger to extract only the juice (you can use the leftover ginger for tea or a curry), add this to the plum sauce and a little sesame oil. Ratios are 100ml plum sauce to 10ml ginger juice and 5 ml seasme oil. Before you use it shake well.
Today I made khoshaf an Iranian dried fruit dessert, but i digressed from the traditional recipe by adding a little rosewater to the dried fruit with a little lemon juice and honey plus 3 long peppers, 1 green cardamon seeded, 4 cloves and some cassia bark, its marinating in the fridge until tommorow, so i’ll post back with pics if i can and what it turns out like, i plan to serve it with our homemade strained yoghurt.
Chef, you are a wonder! Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge and recipes! You wouldn’t happen to have a blog where you’re posting these sorts of things, would you? Because I would read that.
I second this! I love seeing different recipes, and the more they introduce me to new ingredients/techniques/cuisines, the better!
I don’t have a blog, but I should start one, if you want to see my work have a look on Facebook for Jonny Large.
They seem to be out of stock right now, but mountainroseherbs.com carries long peppers (and lots of other interesting things to keep me in penury). Also, they sound like an interesting addition to mulled wine. Oh, the possibilities!
Oh yes, mulled wine, absolutely. Minus the water, that’s basically what I’ve poached the peppers in, anyway. Will have to check out Mountain Rose. The internet is a little dangerous that way, isn’t it? I used to have to wait until I traveled to find spice shops and ethnic grocery stores.
That’s just not fair, sittin’ here in the office reading this delicious things. It is morning and I’m hungry already. Nice work Alyssa.
Sorry.
And thanks!
Please give Salt Traders your business! I know them well and you’ll find some other culinary oddities there too, all in the interest of developing the senses! Didi has grand recipe ideas too….
I noticed the recipes! Good to hear from someone who has ordered there.
Alyssa, I’m loving your food and drink articles. I’ve just got to sniff one of those peppers!
Thanks, Haunani!
By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I totally went to San Fran and had Chinese dungeness crab, as we discussed long ago on my Christmas post. Never would have sought it out if you hadn’t brought it up and it was spectacular–an entire crab deep fried with salt and pepper–so thank you!
Wow! That sounds like an amazing Dungeness crab experience!