Long pepper
Long pepper or rod pepper ( Piper longum ) is a species of the genus pepper in the family of the pepper family ( Piperaceae ). He is called in Tamil / Malayalam pippali, and gave the entire genus Piper ( German: pepper) the name.
Long pepper grows wild throughout India, from the foot of the Himalayas to South India. He is considered the first Pfefferart that reached the Mediterranean and was known in Europe before the real use today pepper. Alexander the Great is said to have brought with him from India and introduced in Europe. The Greeks and Romans imported long pepper and, appreciated him as a remedy and spice. Long pepper has been used extensively in Europe until the 17th century, but then almost completely displaced from the true pepper. Today he is considered " exotic " spice and is often only in special shops ( for example Asialäden ) to obtain.
Description
Long pepper is a climbing plant that emerge at the shoot node roots. It has 4-9 cm long and 3-7 cm wide, full leaves leaves. The small dioecious flowers are in slender spikes, are covered by shield-like scales. The male ears can be 5 to 8 cm long, the female only 2.5 to 5 cm. The latter are smooth, only the scar is exposed.
Use
Reminiscent of kittens fruit bunches are harvested at different maturity stages and dried traded as long pepper and mainly as a spice, but used in India as a remedy. Long pepper is about the same as sharp as black pepper and has a slightly sweet and sour taste. It can be used as a complete replacement for black pepper, but is more expensive than this and is often used by experts. It is advisable to cut the fruit into pieces with scissors to 0.5 cm. These can then with a mortar or a spice grinder grind with ceramic grinder and so very good use in the kitchen.