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Green Peppercorns From Cameroon

Description Price Quantity
Green Peppercorns From Cameroon Standard 40g £5.75 Out of stock
Green Peppercorns From Cameroon

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Steenbergs Penja Pepper includes these green peppercorns are single estate grown on the Penja Estate in Cameroon.  The Penja Green peppercorn - Piper nigrum - is picked while the berries are not yet fully mature and the oxidisation process is stopped by blanching the green berries in boiling hot water.  The Penja green pepper berries are bright lime green in colour with a light, faint peppery aroma and the taste starts with a clean, slightly sweet flavour but this builds up quickly to a bright, bitingly hot and vivacious heat that lingers at the back of the throat and on the tongue.


The Penja Valley in Cameron is a great place for horticulture, a remote valley with only 30,000 people living there.  The terroir is a fertile volcanic soil and the climate is ideal for tropical plants, like pepper vines – loads of humidity and rainfall and masses of hot sun.  It’s a steamy, sweaty place.  Like a niche estate wine, only 18 tonnes are grown on this 100 hectares plantation and no chemicals are used in the growing, processing or post-harvest processes, so while not organic they are free from nasties.


The rich volcanic soil creates flavours and aromas that are soft and refined with a delicate musky, mysterious perfume and lots of hot, African heat that lingers bitingly at the back of the throat.  More mysterious and a bit less refined than Indian peppers but full of great joyful heat.


Peppercorns are the fruit of a tropical, woody climbing vine, Piper nigrum, which can reach up to 10m in height (33ft). However, pepper vines need a host tree to grow up, with for example areca nut, eucalyptus or palm trees used or in Malaysia pepper vines are grown up poles or trellises. The pepper vine has dark-green oval leaves that vary in size depending on the cultivar grown, but thy average at about 18cm long (7 inches) and 12cm (5 inches) wide. Little flowers hang down in catkins of 3-15cm in length (1-6 inches) within the dense leafy foliage. From these, the peppercorn fruits grow on densely packed spikes of 5-15cm in length (2-6 inches), containing up to 50 individual berries. These pepper fruits start out an intense green then ripen to a yellow colour before turning a reddish-pink colour when fully ripe. for more on pepper, check out Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages or Wikipedia.


However, most pepper fruits are harvested when still green and processed to make green, black and white peppercorns. For green peppercorns, the berries are picked when they have grown to full size but have not yet started to ripen. They are then immediately processed to prevent natural enzymatic reactions that would turn the green berry dark. To achieve this, they are either immersed and pickled in brine, or plunged into boiling water for 15 minutes to denature the enzymes and fix the colour, after which they are dried in the sun, shrivelling up like a black peppercorn. Alternatively, they can be freeze dried to retain their bright green colour and their rounded shape.


Green peppercorns are more vivacious in character than the robust and oily flavour of black peppercorns. Their flavour works well in white sauces for poultry and red meats, while green pepper is a good flavour for use in pates and terrines, as they are against the richness of duck, game and pork. Classic examples of using green peppercorns are Steak in a Green Pepper Sauce or a Thai green curry. For more ideas try Allrecipes or the BBC websites.


Steenbergs Penja Green Pepper is another specialist spice that Axel Steenberg has had great fun tracking down and is only sold to our web customers, and we don't sell to trade.all us on 01765 640 088 or email to enquiries@steenbergs.co.uk.

+ Show Nutritional/Allergy Information

Values per 100g:
Energy 227kCal; 962kJ
Protein 15.1g
Carbohydrates 37.3g
Fat 1.9g

Values per 2.5g teaspoon:
Energy 6kCal; 24kJ
Protein 0.4g
Carbohydrates 0.9g
Fat 0.0g

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