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    Tasmanian Pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata) [Poiret] A.C. Smith

    Synonyms

    botDrimys lanceolata (R. Br. ex DC.) F. Muell., Drimys lanceolata (Poir.) Baill., Tasmannia aromatica R. Br. ex DC.
    Chinese
    (Mandarin)    		山胡椒 [shān hú jiāo]
    Shan hu jiao
    DutchBergpeper
    EnglishMountain pepper, Native pepper
    FrenchPoivre indigène
    GermanTasmanischer Pfeffer, Bergpfeffer, Australischer Pfeffer
    HungarianHegyi bors, Tasmán bors
    RussianТасманийский перец
    Tasmanijskij perets
    Tasmannia lanceolata: Tasmanian peppercorn
    Tasmanian pepper (200 dpi scan)
    Tasmannia (Drimys) lanceolata: Dried Tasmanian peppercorns
    Dried Tasmanian peppercorns

    Used plant part

    Dried berries, which resemble black pepper grains in size and colour. The powdered leaves also can be used.

    Of the related dorrigo pepper (Tasmannia stipitata), the dried and ground leaves are used. In contrast, T. insipida has no culinary value.

    Plant family

    Winteraceae, a small family from South East Asia and the Pacific Rim.

    Sensory quality

    When eaten pure, the berries have a sweet taste in the first second only, followed by intensive pungency which again does not last very long, but gives way to a strange sensation of numbness, similar to water pepper and sichuan pepper. See also negro pepper about hot spices in general.

    Dorrigo pepper leaves and the leaves of Tasmanian pepper have a similar, pungent taste, without any trace of sweetness. They also share the tongue-numbing power that Chinese cooks are so fond of in their spice sichuan pepper.
    Tasmannia (Drimys) lanceolata: Tasmanian pepper
    Tasmanian pepper, sterile plant

    www.biologie.uni-ulm.de

    Main constituents

    The pungent principle of both the leaves and the berries is polygodial, a dialdehyde with a bicyclic sesquiterpenoid backbone. The same compound is also responsible for the pungency of water pepper, an otherwise unrelated plant, and appears in traces in a Brazil herb, paracress.

    In the essential oil, mostly monoterpenoid and sesquiterpenoid hydrocarbons were found.

    Origin

    Australia. The plant is mostly found in Tasmania, but also grows in Victoria and New South Wales.

    Etymology

    Genus name Tasmannia (neo-Latin) refers to the place of origin, Tasmania, which in turn is named after Abel Tasman (1603 –1659), a Dutch explorer. Species name lanceolata is Latin for “lance shaped”, derived from a Latin noun lancea “lance”.

    Selected Links

    Herbie's Spices: Native Pepperberry Herbie's Spices: Mountain Pepperleaf Vic Cherikoff Food Services: Native Pepperberries Gewürzamt: Tasmanischer Pfeffer

    Tasmannia (Drimys) lanceolata: Tasmanian peppercorns
    Tasmanian pepper, plant with ripe fruits
    www.trump.net.au     © Robert Coghlan
    Tasmannia insipida: Flowers
    Flowers of T. insipida, a close relative of Tasmanian pepper
    Tasmanian pepper is known and available in Australia only, where it plays an increasing rôle in local cookery. It is used for typical Australian food, e.g. emu hamburger or kangaroo steaks; it is common to marinate meat with a mixture of crushed Tasmanian pepper berries and vegetable oil before grilling or frying. Stews with longer cooking period, on the other hand, are seasoned with the ground grains before serving, because long simmering destroys the taste of this spice.
    Tasmannia lanceolata: Tasmanian pepper flowers
    Flowering Tasmanian Pepper plant

    www.mediterrangarten.de

    What is called bush food in Australia is a new culinary style that makes use of tasty indigenous plants: lemon myrtle, acacia seeds (“wattleseed”), an Australian relative of tomato (“bush tomato”, Solanum centrale) and local herbs lend a typical Australian touch to the food. Bush food is inspired both by traditional cookery of Australian farmers and by cooking procedures used by Native Australians (Aboriginals). It is also significantly influenced by Italian cooking; pasta flavoured with Tasmanian pepper or pesto made with wattle seeds instead of pine nuts (see also basil) are typical bush food creations. On the other side, bush food is often much more spicy than each of aboriginal, farmer and Italian foods; there is probably some indirect influence of the many Asian immigrants that have moved to Australia in the past decades and that have established a general tolerance to well-spiced food.

    At present, bush food is restricted to Australia, but maybe it will share the fate of cajun food, a peasant-derived cuisine from Louisiana (USA) that today enjoys wide popularity even outside of its home continent (see sassafras).

    Tasmanian pepper is almost unavailable outside Australia; it is difficult to substitute. Dried water pepper seeds, also hard to obtain, are the best substitute I can suggest.

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    Modification date: 2 Jul 2001