Black Voatsiperifery Pepper

At the heart of the Malagasy forests, Voatsiperifery black pepper creepers can grow up to 10 metres high! Rare, unique, and even addictive with its woody, floral notes and a fresh citrus hint, pop it in your pepper mill to brighten up your recipes. Works exceptionally well with chocolate and dessert.

Chocolate and Voatsiperifery pepper go hand in hand to enchant every palate. It is deliciously decadent in creamy chocolate sauces or add it to a gooey chocolate cake to tingle your guests’ tastebuds! But chocolate is not the only companion for Voatsiperifery pepper! Use it in your savoury recipes, with meat, fish or shellfish, to add fresh and spicy notes. Be careful not to leave it infuse too long to avoid it becoming too bitter.

Our recipe ideas for Voastiperifery black pepper:

• Chocolate mousse with Voastiperifery black pepper: crack the pepper and sprinkle over your chocolate mousse just before serving;
• Chocolate macarons with Voastiperifery pepper: add 2 pinches of Voatsiperifery pepper to the ganache filling, this extraordinary pepper will sublime your macarons;
• Duck breast, fresh mango and Voastiperifery black pepper: sprinkle two pinches of Voastiperifery black pepper over your cooked duck breasts just before serving;
• Seared scallops with citrus butter: sprinkle a few pinches in the butter, then melt the butter over a low heat. Pour this infused butter over your scallops;
• Peppered tuna steak with Voatsiperifery pepper: dip your tuna steaks in ground Voatsiperifery pepper before searing on a hot pan;
• Pepper seasoned strawberries: sprinkle a pinch of Voatsiperifery pepper over your strawberries and enjoy

Botanical properties of Madagascar wild pepper

Pepper is defined in botanical terms as the fruit of a creeper from the Piper genus, and the Piperace family. Voatsiperifery is the fruit of the Piper Borbonense vine. Voatsiperifery grows in the wild in the tropical forests of South-East Madagascar. Its name comes from "voa" which means fruit and "tsiperifery" which is the name of the plant in Malagasy.

Harvesting is dangerous making this rare pepper even more precious. This very rare pepper is harvested between October and December, by the Malagasy villagers. The harvest is a perilous task as the creeper grows up to 10 metres high and the fruit only grows at the very top. 5kg of fresh peppercorns are needed for 1kg of dried pepper.

Where does Voatsiperifery pepper come from?

Voatsiperifery pepper is a wild well-preserved treasure from Madagascar 

The island of Madagascar, off the coast of Mozambique, has a tropical climate which favours the growth of a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and spices. These include pink peppercorns, world-famous vanilla and wild Voatsiperifery  pepper. You need to head off deep into the tropical forests far from the towns to discover where it grows.

Picked by hand with age-old expertise, fully respectful of biodiversity

This rare pepper is harvested by local villagers. They alone are skilled enough to climb to the very top of the creepers to pick the pepper. It’s a dangerous task as the creepers can grow up to 10 metres high where the pepper thrives in full sunlight at the very top of the trees.

During the harvest, neither the tree nor the creeper are cut, to protect the sustainability of this rare pepper. The peppercorns need to be left out to dry for several days, and are then sorted meticulously by hand before this wild pepper can be exported.