Recipes and Suggestions for Diemen Pepper

Exotic spice from a very southern south sea island
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Suggestions for enjoying Tasmannia lanceolata - native or mountain pepper

  • Keep your berries nice and hard and dry – in a closed glass jar. If they become slightly soft, a few minutes in a low oven will dry them out, and save your grinder from ‘clogging’

  • Use the ground leaf to make a tasty olive oil for dressings and tapas platters.

  • A tasty dressing can be made by steeping fresh or reconstituted berries in good quality vinegar and combining this with your favourite oils and spices.

  • Diemen Pepper is best as a condiment (at the table), or used towards the end of cooking, (some of the flavours can be lost at prolonged high temperatures).

  • A small bowl of milled leaf in the centre of the table can be 'pinched' over soups and sauces.

  • Keep a second pepper grinder filled with Diemen Pepper berries - use sparingly - the flavour is robust and may surprise.

  • Pepperberries will bleed a soft pink colour into marinades or pickle solutions, pale sauces and yoghurt.

  • Diemen Pepper Tapas Oil, in a small bowl provides a spicy dip for crusty fresh bread
Garlic and Diemen Pepper Cream (Blue Gum Fine Foods)
4 Garlic cloves
600ml Olive oil
3 Egg yolks
5g fresh mountain pepper or 3g dried berries soaked for 30min.
200ml champagne vinegar
10g chopped lemon basil
Salt to taste

Chop garlic and combine with pepper. Whisk into egg yolks with vinegar, as for mayonnaise, and drizzle oil in a stream, till all incorporated. Season with lemon basil and salt to taste.

Diemen Pepper Butter Sauce (Australian Native Fine Foods)

Reduce chicken, veal or fish stock to a 'jus'. Remove from heat and add 5g ground pepper leaf per litre of reduced stock. Allow to infuse 30 secs. Then finish the reduced stock with cold butter. Note: Pepperberries may also be used (ground), although the effect of the burgundy colour of the berries is more effective in a white or cream sauce.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with pepper, prosciutto and parmesan sauce (Anon., Southern Bushfood Association. Magazine No 5)

Gnocchi
750g sweet potatoes, steamed, chopped, mashed and cooled.
3 tsp. Ground Diemen Pepper leaf
3 medium. eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups plain flour

Pepper, prosciutto and parmesan sauce
1 cup cream
1 tsp. Ground Diemen Pepper
2 tblsp unsalted butter
6 thin slices prosciutto
100g freshly shaved parmesan

To make the gnocchi, mix ingredients thoroughly, forming a firm dough, adding flour or a little water if required. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 2 -3 minutes. Divide into 4, roll each into a long sausage and cut into 1 inch slices. From these into your favourite gnocchi shape, dust with flour and set aside. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and gently drop in the gnocchi. Immediately they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon and place in a shallow baking dish.

To make the sauce, bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan, add the pepper and remove from the heat. Whisk in the butter. Pour the mixture over the cooked gnocchi, and sprinkle shaved parmesan and prosciutto evenly over the surface. Place in a preheated (370¡F) oven for 10 minutes then serve immediately.

Cabbage with Diemen Pepper (SBA Newsletter No 12)

1/4 cabbage, shredded
2 - 3 tbsp olive oil
1- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp ground Diemen Pepper leaf, or coarsely ground dry berries
1 red apple, diced

Mix oil, vinegar and pepper in a small jar and leave for 1-2 hrs. Cook apple and vinaigrette till liquid slightly reduced, add cabbage and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer till vinegar is evaporated. Serve as an entree or accompaniment.