The Discovery of a New Ingredient

There is nothing like discovering a new ingredient that you know, instinctively, is going to change your cooking: but that is what I did when I saw, and subsequently bought, some Balinese Long Pepper. I had already picked up everything that I needed for the dish I was planning for dinner - Pappardelle with honey mushrooms and a sauteed red capsicum and roasted tomato companion - and then the box caught my eye. It was such a perfect container; a solid, thick, cardboard box, no more than three by two inches in size which, by its design, contained something special... something worth being contained in a perfect, little container.

I bought them on a whim - without smelling them, without tasting them; and once I did try them I tweaked my menu for the evening. I dropped the honey mushrooms and made a simple pasta dish of Pappardelle and Hand Ground Balinese Long Pepper... and it was unbelievable.

Since eating at Mario Batalli's Lupa earlier this year, while on a boondoggle to New York, I've been a big fan of his Bavette with Cheese and Pepper. So this evening I modified it, substituting the black pepper for Balinese long pepper, and holding back on the cheese. And it was amazing. really amazing.

I'm going to borrow a little history and context from Salt Traders; I'm not sure I could describe the taste or complexity any better given that my regular dining partner and I debated these subtleties for several nights thereafter - I focusing in on the floral overtones and she on the earthiness:

"Once hailed by Romans as the ultimate peppery spice, wild long peppers soon disappeared into culinary obscurity with the agricultural domestication of their cousin, the modern peppercorn. Long pepper still inhabits the mountainous central highlands of Bali and is harvested from the wild forest surrounding the traditional coffee, vanilla and spice farms. The lavor of Balinese Long Pepper is deep and complex, simultaneously releasing an earthy pungency with sweet overtones of cardamom and nutmeg. The long peppers look like tiny cattails and once ground, roasted or simply snapped in two, they release an incredible floral bouquet."

As I think of the opportunities for Balinese Long Pepper in my cooking I draw a comparison to Truffles. Like Truffles, I envision using this pepper as a feature accent in very simple dishes - hand crushed on pasta, "smashed potatoes", pureed celeriac, or chicken.

A final note on price. I was initially reluctant to spend $16 on a box of pepper. But like all peppers, it stores well and will last a long time - and a very small amount will go a long way.