Plantation Pepper

"Dans l'écriture des gouts, si le sel est la virgule, le poivre est le point. Agissant un peu comme un catalyseur pour les saveurs, il rehausse et met en relief chacune d'entre elles. Les cuisines du monde seraient parfaitement fades sans apport poivré. Le poivre donne le tempo, l'accord profond et nécessaire à toutes les saveurs." (Olivier Roellinger - Créateur des Maisons de Bricourt, 3 étoiles au Guide Michelin)

The word Pepper comes from the Latin word piper, which originates from the Greek peperi, which comes from the Sanskrit pippali, name of long pepper (Piper Longum) in India.

Pepper is a large family of plants including between 700 and 2000 varieties depending on the sources. Pepper vines grow in tropical Asia (Piper Nigrum, the classical pepper / Piper lolot, lalot / Piper methysticum, Kawa), in Africa (Piper guineese, Ashanti Pepper) and in America (piper aauritum, Mexican pepper)

The Piper family consists of many useful plants, mainly alimentary, like those available in our selection (piper borbonense, Voatsiperifery Pepper / piper retrofractum, Long Pepper / piper cubeba, Comet's Tail Pepper). Some also have medicinal uses (piper umbellatum), and stimulating uses like betel (piper betel) or kawa (piper methysticum). Other pepper vines have less known applications, for example: piper bartlingianum, which is used as poison for arrows, piper darienensis which is used as poison for fishing or piper attenuatum whose vines contain drinking water!

Additionally, many other plants are called "pepper" although they are not botanically linked to the pepper family, except for their shape or their spicy touch (schinus molle, Pink Pepper / pimenta dioica, Jamaican Pepper / Tasmannia Lanceolata, Tasmanian Pepper / zanthoxylum piperitum, Sechuan Pepper). However they offer very interesting culinary alternatives.

Piper Nigrum is the most well known pepper. Economically it is the most important spice representing 25% of the world trade in spice and yet it is produced in only a handful of countries within 15 degrees of the Equator. But the same Piper nigrum can be found under various forms:

Black pepper:
These berries are picked slightly before they reach their mature stage. They are sun dried for approximately a week. Under the influence of the sun the pepper's flesh retracts and becomes black. Its aroma is more robust and spicy than the green pepper.

White pepper:
They are picked at the moment they reach maturity, when at least five berries have become red on a bussel. Then, they are soaked under running water for several days to gently remove the husk before drying in the sun. The spiciness of the pepper is due to the presence of piperine in its flesh. The white pepper from which the husk has been removed is less spicy but more tasty.

Green Pepper:
It is made from berries which have been picked before they reached full maturity and are used at this stage. Its taste is milder then the other peppers.

Additionally to these kinds of pepper, one must keep in mind that perfume and taste is strongly influenced by the area of production (climate, sub-variety), the way to prepare it and the quality sought after... most of the farmers produce up to five grades but unfortunately, most of the time, only the worst ones are sent to Europe because of their much cheaper price. Some fine food dealers and stores are promoting first choice pepper from Malabar (India) or Sarawak (Malaysia), or white pepper from Penja (Cameroun), Muntok (Indonesia) or red from Pondichery (India).

A major and expensive spice, pepper was falsified all along its History. Nowadays, the products are less falsified; when one buys black pepper, it is usually black pepper. However, the question remains of the quality... It is rare to find good peppers. Most of the time, the market just offers low quality (unproperly harvested or prepared) and old pepper (It is to be noted that pepper is a product with a value on the stock market. It can be stocked for weeks, months or even years, in very poor conditions, until the market value is favourable). Pepper then is only spicy but it can be so much more! ÅKESSON´S welcomes you in the world of pepper and wants to bring you awareness of the incredible variety of peppercorns which are available to give unexpected flavours to your dishes.

ÅKESSON´S specially selects the best pepper plantations in the world.

ÅKESSON´S pepper is sent by plane soon after the harvest to ensure the freshness of the product.

ÅKESSON´S pepper labels are marked with the respective harvest year of each product.

ÅKESSON´S peppercorns are not chemically treated and not irradiated as it is unfortunately often the case for the international market.

ÅKESSON´S pepper is packed in 100% ecologically recycled glasses, supplied by the only factory in Europe manufacturing them.