Categories: Spices, Pepper

Cuisines: Indian, Moroccan/North African, Chinese/East Asian

Source: Indonesia

The appearance of Cubeb berries (like a black peppercorn with a short tail) sometimes causes them to be known as Java pepper, tailed pepper and comet-tails. Cubeb comes from a plant in the pepper family and grows almost exclusively in Java and other parts of Indonesia. It has a piney taste when raw, but when cooked it is more warm and pleasant – reminiscent of allspice. Cubeb was once used in Europe in place of black pepper, but is now mostly confined to Indonesian cooking. While it’s still little-known outside of Southeast Asia, people in the west are starting to take notice. Try some and judge for yourself.