Other Piper Spices
Long pepper (Piper longum) is a flowering vine native to peninsular Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Assam and southern China. It is also commonly referred to as Indian Long Pepper, or ‘pippal’ in Sanskrit, and is a separate species from the similar Javanese Long Pepper or Chui Jhal (Piper chaba, syn.
P. retrofractum) and Piper peepuloides. The fruit comprises catkin-like cylindrical spikes which range up to 4cm (female) or 7.5cm (male) long, and up to 6mm in diameter. The tiny ovoid fruits are embedded in the spike. The fruits are green initially but turn grey or black on ripening. The female spikes provide the economically useful peppers. The flavour of long pepper is generally described as burning hot and sweet, with a fragrant aroma; the heat sensation tends to linger and it is notably more pungent than black pepper. Interestingly, the roots are also used as a spice, as both fruit and roots contain piperine.Long pepper was one of the flavourings used in the Vedic era of India (c. 1500–500 BCE), alongside black pepper, turmeric, mustard seeds and sesame seeds.127 The Sushruta Samhita is an ancient Sanskrit compilation that appears to have been generated around the mid-first millennium BCE; pippali is referred to several times for its medicinal and culinary benefits – wine with long pepper was paired with venison dishes, for example. Long pepper is mentioned again in the Arthashastra, another ancient Sanskrit text compiled between the second century BCE and third century CE.
E. Mcduff speculated that long pepper may have been the first kind of pepper to reach the West, as its origins in the northern Indian subcontinent were closer to the likely overland trade routes than black pepper, which grew only in southernmost India.128
Hippocrates listed pepper among his medicines but didn’t directly differentiate between black pepper and long pepper.
The pepper referred to in the text is probably P. longum, which originated in north-east India.129 Theophrastus clearly did recognise the difference, though perhaps surprisingly some of the succeeding learned botanists did not. Theophrastus observed:Pepper is a fruit, and there are two kinds: one is round like bitter vetch, having a case and flesh like the berries of bay, and it is reddish: the other is elongated and black and has seeds like those of poppy: and this kind is much stronger than the other. Both however are heating …130
Dioscorides appears to describe long pepper, and names it thus, though it is possible he was describing the unripe fruiting spikes of black pepper; he noted the ‘stronger biting quality’. The trade of long pepper is documented in the first-century CE Periplus Maris Erythraei among the goods obtained by the Romans from Barygaza, but other records of the era are less authoritative.
For example, Pliny makes a confusing description of pepper trees, likening them to junipers, which is not the case. He also incorrectly described seeds being enclosed in pods:
These pods are picked before they open, and when dried in the sun, make what we call ‘long pepper.’ But if allowed to ripen, they will open gradually, and when arrived at maturity, discover the white pepper; if left exposed to the heat of the sun, this becomes wrinkled, and changes its colour.131
He was clearly on very shaky ground here but was better informed on the market – he claimed the price of long pepper to be 15 denarii per lb, compared to 7 denarii for white pepper and 4 denarii for black.
This raises interesting questions: why did black pepper prevail over long pepper throughout Roman (and later) history, when long pepper is arguably superior (more pungent, more fragrant, sweeter tasting)? Ultimately, the lower price and greater availability of black pepper seem to have been the deciding factors. Matthew Cobb notes that there is no reason to doubt that long pepper was imported to the Roman Empire, or Pliny’s record of prices (above) would make no sense; it is also included in the second-century CE Alexandrian Tariff.132
Long pepper is again included in the list of dutiable items on entry into Alexandria in the Digest of Justinian of 533 CE, a repeat of the earlier tariff.
Western confusion between long pepper and black pepper persisted through the medieval era, as exemplified in the semi-fictitious mid-fourteenth-century Travels of Sir John Mandeville. The author infers that peppers came from the same tree: ‘And there is 3 maner of Peper, all upon one Tree; long Peper, blak Peper, and white Peper.’
Long pepper was also used by the Chinese in medieval times: Hu Sihui, the author of Yinshan Zhengyao (The True Principles of Eating and Drinking c. 1330) referred to spice mixtures or xi liaowu, which appear to have included long pepper among numerous other spices, and it is also listed separately. Both long pepper and black pepper appeared to be more highly favoured than the native fagara.133
Long pepper was used in late medieval England, but much less frequently than black pepper, recapitulating the situation in Ancient Rome.134 As in Rome, the price of long pepper was also greater – purchases for the coronation feast of Richard III included 5lb of long pepper for 16s 8d versus 44lb black pepper for £2 18s 4d. This equates to 3s 4d per lb for long pepper and approximately 1s 4d per lb for black pepper, a similar percentage price differential to the time of Pliny!
Long pepper appears in a single recipe (for Hypocras) in The Forme of Cury (1390);135 it also appears in numerous recipes (especially in soups and broths) from Le Menagier de Paris (1393). Long pepper also features as one of several spices in a fifteenth-century Hypocras recipe from John Russell:
Graynes / gynger, long pepur, & sugre / hoot & moyst in worchynge Synamome / Canelle / red wyne / hoot & drye in theire doynge136
Long pepper’s use in spiced wine seems to have been relatively commonplace. By 1588, long pepper was evidently widely available in England, as Walter Bailey commented that ‘Long pepper is to be seene in every shop’.137
John Gerard discussed the different kinds of pepper in his 1597 Herbal, and correctly differentiated between them.138 Of long pepper:
The branches are many and twiggie, whereon doth grow the fruite, consisting of many graines growing upon a slender footestalke, thrust or compact close togither; greene at the first, and afterwarde blackish; in taste sharper and hotter than common blacke Pepper, yet sweeter, and of better taste.
By the seventeenth century, long pepper had once again become extremely scarce in the West, at least in part as chili became rapidly established in Asia as the new hot spice of choice.
Long pepper’s usage in the West today is quite infrequent and it is usually only available through speciality spice shops or Indian groceries. It is relatively commonplace as a spice and condiment in South Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and has an important use in Ayurvedic medicine. According to Manjit Gill, long pepper is good for use in mutton stews, with grilled or roast fish and meats, in smoked foods, in many vegetarian dishes and as an accompaniment to cheese.139 Ground long pepper is also used in pickles, chutneys and certain breads.140 It is sometimes used in the paan spice mix chewed with areca nuts in betel leaf. Long pepper is also used to some extent in North and East African cuisine, e.g. in the berbere spice mixture. Cubeb Pepper
Cubeb (Piper cubeba) is a close relative of black pepper that was in common use until the end of the seventeenth century. It is also referred to as Java Pepper, as it is native there and in neighbouring Sumatra, or Tailed Pepper on account of the stalks attached to the peppercorns. Figure 7 illustrates dried long pepper, black pepper and cubeb pepper fruits. The plant is a perennial vine, similar to Piper nigrum, and thrives in the tropics. It can grow up to 10m in height. Cubeb has a pleasant aromatic odour with a pungent, complex and bitter taste, similar to a mix of allspice and black pepper.
There is doubt over the use of cubeb by the Greeks and Romans – perhaps the similarity to black pepper was too great to separate them into different species at that time. However, it may simply not have been available. Cubeb spread to China in early medieval times.
In India, ancient Sanskrit texts included cubeb in various remedies. Charaka (born between 100 BCE and 200 CE) and Sushruta (born several hundred years BCE) – two of the main contributors to Ayurveda – prescribed cubeb paste as a mouthwash, and dried cubebs internally for oral and dental diseases, loss of voice, halitosis, fevers and coughs.
In the fourteenth-century CE Raja Nirghanta cubebs appear in the name of kankola. Unani physicians (traditional medicine of Greek origin practised in southern Asia) use a paste of cubeb fruits on male and female genitals to intensify sexual pleasure.141 The Arabian Nights (ninth century CE) refers to cubeb as part of a treatment for infertility.Cubeb was included among the spices that Bede left to his brethren in 735. We can assume that they weren’t using it in the way that the Unani doctors prescribed.
There were fifty-three occurrences of cubeb in 1377 in late medieval English recipes, which demonstrates that it was certainly established even if not used profusely at that time.142 In medieval Europe, cubeb had the reputation of being able to repel the devil and evil spirits and was used for spells and exorcism.143 It decreased in availability in Europe from the seventeenth century as black pepper was promoted. It is entirely absent from many eighteenth-century and later cookery books.
John Crawfurd, the British Resident at the court of the Sultan of Java, noted that cubeb was an effective cure for gonorrhoea and that it was already known to the people of Bengal when the English occupied Java (in 1811).144
The world cubeb trade today is small, and is used mainly for seasoning, as a botanical in gin, in traditional medicines and in flavouring cigarettes. It is generally unavailable in modern Western supermarkets but can be obtained online via speciality spice sellers. Less Common Species
Table 6 describes seven less common species of Piper that are used in a culinary sense as well as, in most cases, for traditional medicinal purposes.
Table 6 | Piper Lesser-Known Species
| Ashanti Pepper (Piper guineense) | Also known as West African Pepper, African Black Pepper, Guinea Pepper, and False Cubeb, Ashanti is a climbing perennial vine that can grow up to 20m tall by climbing up the bole of trees. Its heart-shaped leaves have a peppery taste and the fruits occur in clusters which are reddish-brown when ripe and black when dry. The plant is native to tropical central and west Africa – it is one of only two Piper species native to Africa.145 Like several other members of the Piperaceae, the plant contains significant piperine content, which imparts its spicy heat, with the fruits containing over 3 per cent.146 It is used as a traditional medicine in various ways. The fruits act as a spicy flavouring for soups, stews and rice, and the leaves are used to flavour meat and fresh pepper soup as well as being consumed as vegetables.147 |
| Kava kava (Piper methysticum) | Kava kava is a perennial shrub native to the South Pacific Islands that reaches 3m in height and is characterised by large cordate leaves. The roots of the plant are used to make a psychoactive drink of the same name, which has sedative and euphoric effects. The roots contain compounds such as methysticin, yangonin, dihydromethysticin and dihydrokawain.148 These are the kavalactones, a class of lactone compounds, which comprise around 15 per cent of dried kava root. Tran Dang Xuan et al. identified eighteen kavalactones.149 The kavalactone content is greatest in the root and decreases upwards in the stems and leaves. The root is ground or pounded and then mixed with water to produce the drink. The Fijian version is called ‘grog’. Kava has a possible origin in Vanuatu and may have spread throughout islands by human transport, with new varieties emerging on different islands; over 100 cultivars are now recognised. The Dutch navigators Le Maire and Schouten noted its presence in the island of Futuna (over 500km north-east of Fiji) in 1616 during their global circumnavigation. P. wichmanii (which is very similar to P. methysticum) may have been the wild species from which farmers domesticated cultivars of P. methysticum.150 Domestication originated in northern Vanuatu, probably starting around 3,000 years ago, after arrival of the first humans there; cultivars were probably carried from Vanuatu eastwards to Polynesia and westwards to New Guinea and Micronesia.151 Kava reached the United States from Hawaii. A Sears catalogue from 1915 included an advertisement for kava. It was described as ‘the greatest non-alcoholic wine’ and ‘the finest temperance drink in the world and superior to the highest priced wines on the market. It is exceedingly pleasant to taste, healthful and invigorating … As a wine for the table at meals it has no equal.’ That was perhaps a little exaggerated, but there is certainly a growing appeal and kava bars have now become increasingly popular in mainland USA. |
| Rough-leaved Pepper (Piper amalago) | Rough-leaved pepper, also known as pepper elder, is an evergreen shrub native to the Neotropics that commonly grows to heights of 1.5–3m, sometimes greater. The fruit is black and pungent and grows on long spikes; it is very similar to black pepper in flavour and pungency but the fruits are smaller, around the size of mustard seeds.152 They are used as a hot spice in food and as a condiment. The plant also has medicinal uses, e.g. the leaves are brewed for use as a cough remedy and the root is used to treat snake bites.153 The leaves are used in Mexico and Brazil to treat a wide range of conditions including heart problems, burns, inflammation and infections, stomach aches and muscle aches, among other conditions.154 The leaf essential oils were analysed in a recent study and thirty-eight compounds were identified representing just over 90 per cent of the total; major constituents were β-phellandrene (20.42 per cent), spathulenol (10.34 per cent), bicyclogermacrene (8.5 per cent) and α-pinene (7.29 per cent). The main compounds were monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and oxygenated sesquiterpenes.155 |
| African Long Pepper (Piper capense) | Piper capense is an aromatic shrub or straggling liana native to northeast, central and southern Africa that ranges up to 5m tall or long, with large ovate to elliptical leaves and flowers on long spikes. The fruits are similar to those of Indian long pepper. Local name is ‘Timiz’. This is the second of the two species of Piper native to Africa. It is a popular spice in Ethiopia because of its availability and lower price than imported Indian long pepper. It is often gathered from the wild but there is competition from baboons, who love the fruits!156 Timiz is used in traditional meat stews, usually together with black pepper, nutmeg, cloves and turmeric. It is also used as a local constituent of berbere, and timiz can be used to spice coffee, tea and butter. The fruits are traditionally used as spices in western Cameroon to make soups called ‘Nkui’ and ‘Nah poh’. The leaves are used as a traditional medicine to treat stomach complaints in São Tome and Principe and to treat epilepsy in Cameroonian recipes. Many other traditional uses are reported in B. Salehi et al.157 |
| Chui Jhal Pepper (Piper chaba syn. retrofractum) | Piper chaba, syn. Piper retrofractum, is a perennial flowering vine native to South and Southeast Asia. It is also called Java Long Pepper and, in Thailand, ‘dee plee’. Leaves are ovate or lanceolate and typically 10–15cm x 4–6cm. The fruits are developed on long spikes, up to 8.5cm long (male) and 6.5cm long (female); they are red when ripe and turn dark brown or black when dried. They have a pungent, peppery taste and can produce numbness in the mouth – they are used as a spice and in pickles, etc., in a similar manner to Indian long pepper.158 It is becoming popular in Bangladesh as an intercrop and an article in the Daily Star observed that ‘every household yard in Chhinai union has a Piper chaba vine’.159 In Bangladesh, chui jhal is used as a spice in meat, fish and mutton curries amongst other dishes. The chopped stems, roots and skin are used in preference to the fruits and chui jhal is one of the most popular spices in the south-western part of Bangladesh. The roots are more expensive than other parts due to their stronger aroma.160 Chui jhal also has numerous traditional medicinal uses.161 |
| Spiked Pepper (Piper aduncum) | Spiked pepper or matico (Piper aduncum) is an evergreen shrubby tree native to central and southern America that can reach heights of 7–8m. It has alternate lanceolate leaves that can reach up to 18cm in length set on slightly zig-zag stems and small fruits arranged in long and slender curved spikes. It is grown in numerous tropical regions worldwide and is highly invasive (the most invasive of the Piper genus). The entire plant has a peppery aroma and fruits are used as a spice and condiment. The fruits have a certain sweetness when ripe. In addition to its culinary use, it is widely used as a traditional medicine throughout the Amazon; in fact, the name purportedly derives from a wounded Spanish soldier called Matico, who learned from native people to apply leaves to his wounds to staunch the bleeding. It is used as an antiseptic, to stop bleeding, to prevent infection and to speed healing.162 Leaves are crushed or powdered and sprinkled on to the wound, or it is occasionally used as a poultice. It is also prepared as an infusion to treat inflammation and gastric problems, among other disorders. The invasive nature of the plant has been reviewed by Alfred E. Hartemink on his website, citing the spread in Southeast Asia.163 It was introduced to the Bogor Botanical Gardens (in Java, Indonesia) in the 1860s; by the late 1920s it had become common in a radius of 50–100km around the Gardens in young secondary vegetation, close to rivers and on steep slopes. It was noted in Jayapura in 1955, Biak in 1960 and Irian Jaya, Malaysia and Borneo in the 1960s. It was also recorded in Singapore and Sumatra. It had become very common in Papua New Guinea by the late 1990s. |
| Hoja Santa (Piper auritum) | Hoja Santa (‘sacred leaf’ in Spanish) is also known as Mexican Pepper Leaf or the Root Beer Plant, with the Latin name Piper auritum. It is a large shrubby plant native to tropical South and Central America. The leaves are large and heart-shaped and are often used in Mexican cuisine, e.g. as a wrapper in tamales or for seafood and meat which is then steamed or baked, the leaf being discarded prior to eating. The leaf helps to season the filling during cooking. It is also an ingredient in the green and yellow seasoning pastes, mole verde and mole amarillo, from Oaxaca.164 It is also chopped up and added to stews, soups and scrambled eggs. Flavour is a complex mix of sassafras, anise, pepper and liquorice and there is a strong aroma of anise when stems and leaves are crushed; the root beer plant moniker is due to the high concentration of safrole, a phenylpropanoid compound found in sassafras plants. |