Salted Black Kampot Peppercorns

Salted Black Kampot Peppercorns

50 grams - Cambodia

You probably don’t know this, but I love my salted pepper! Read on to see why this changes everything. Kampot is a province in South-West Cambodia where pepper is grown. This land has wonderful exposure to the sun, great air from the neighboring sea and plentiful rainfall. Peppercorns have been grown in this region since the 13th century (planted by the Chinese) and then when the French occupied the region in the 19th & 20th century, they grew pepper into an industry. At the time, the majority of the eight thousand tons of pepper produced was shipped to France. In the 70’s the civil war in Cambodia disrupted and all but stopped the production of the Kampot peppercorns. Ten years ago Kampot peppercorns - having been revived by generational family farms ten years earlier - the Ministry of Trade and the French Development Agency established the PGI, the Protected Geographical Indication label. Kampot Pepper is the first PGI designation for Cambodia. This designation has strict requirements that must be met including the use of natural fertilizers, natural pesticides and traceability. Only plantations accredited members of the KPPA (Kampot Pepper Promotion Association) are allowed to sell pepper using the Kampot Pepper certificate of origin. In September bunches of pepper start to develop in a show of intense green color. They continue to grow into January as they mature. To create this salted green Kampot pepper, they first harvest by hand the green peppercorns while still young, which are then fermented to enhance their flavor. This salted pepper is the first we tried from the Kampot region in Cambodia and it is awesome! The drupe is small, light in weight, dark in color, salty and tingly spicy, maybe even hot to some. Literally pop some salted pepper in your mouth and bite down. It's not hard or solid like other peppercorns, in fact it is like a hollow kernel. One little Kampot peppercorn delicately covered with fine ground salt is a flavor powerhouse! Holy Mackerel! This salted pepper is a super treat of epic proportions! Flavor, spice and everything nice, it is indeed a stunner for the taste buds!