Cuisines: French

Source: Malaysia, Indonesia

White peppercorns are picked from the vine when they are almost ripe - much later than black or green peppercorns. When picked, they are a yellowish-pink colour. The peppercorns are treated with water to remove the skin, and then sun-dried. White peppercorns contain less essential oil than black peppercorns, as this is in the skin, so they have less aroma and a sweetish pungency to them. They are used often in French cooking, and are especially useful in white soups and sauces that require pepper, because they won't add the little black flecks that black peppercorns would.

We carry two varieties of white peppercorns, Sarawak white peppercorns from Malaysian Borneo and Muntok white peppercorns from Indonesia. Sarawak white peppercorns are the best grade; the green berries are left on the vine until they start to ripen, and then they are packed into burlap sacks and placed in a running stream for two weeks until the outer skin loosens and washes off. This results in a smooth, bright white peppercorn with outstanding flavour. We sell whole Sarawak white peppercorns only.

Muntok white peppercorns are picked when green and then soaked in barrels of cool water to remove the outer skin. They have a similar flavour to the Sarawak variety but do not have the same creamy outer texture and are not are as pure white in colour. We sell Muntok white peppercorns whole and ground. For ground white pepper, please see White Pepper, Ground.

**Sarawak white peppercorns are currently out of stock. Sorry for the inconvenience.