Whole Cubeb Pepper

Cubeb pepper`s flavour is described very differently in numerous different cookbooks and spice encyclopaedias, from hot and bitter to dry and woody to aromatic and peppery. Sometimes the taste is described as being similar to allspice. It is indeed very difficult to describe the flavour of this spice. We have chosen to describe cubeb pepper as hot, strong and slightly peppery, although it is the combination of these individual flavours that makes this variety so interesting. Unlike the "false cubeb" pepper, also known as the Ashanti pepper from West Africa, the genuine tailed pepper comes from Indonesia.

Just like long pepper, it is a key component of the famous North African spice mix "ras el hanout", which means "head of the shop" or "top-shelf".

Other names for cubeb pepper: piper cubeba, tailed pepper, Java pepper or poivre a queue.

Background information: the term "false cubeb" is sometimes used to refer to a relative of cubeb pepper that grows in Africa, also known as Piper guineense or Ashanti pepper.
It has a smaller grain, but is similar in terms of taste and aroma.