Piperaceae family
Amharic: timiz
French: poivre long, poivrier arbuste

A little botany
Ethiopian long pepper is a herbaceous, bushy plant, well ramified and slightly lignified at its base. With each one of its oval heart-shaped leaves comes a small, irregular, cylindrical fruit-spike. These 2-cm long and 5-mm diameter catkins are fleshy, lumpy and yellowish. Gathered and dried in the sun or over a fire, the spikes harden and take on a grey-black colour. They constitute the spice that is found in local markets, where it is frequently offered alongside a similar exotic species: Piper longum L. Although this other "long pepper" is sold all over Ethiopia, is its not produced in the country. While is bears the same name as its indigenous parent and is used in the same way, it has been always been imported. It can be easily distinguished by its appearance (grey-brown colour, regular cylindroconical shape with a spiralled pattern) as well as its fragrance – which is more piquant than aromatic.

A little history
Indian long pepper is produced by a liana that originated in the Himalaya, but it is now grown all over India and Indonesia. It was one of the first spices to reach Europe, well before the peppers we currently use. Indeed, the English pepper, French poivre, and German pfeffer derive from its Sanskrit name pippali.
The African long pepper P. capense is less known. It is sometimes listed in spice catalogues, where it is described as a mere variety of its Indian counterpart. However, its visual appearance is quite different, and its original qualities – especially its sweet canella aromas are liable to seduce a broad range of consumers.
The species is distributed across the entire forest zone from Sierra Leone to South Africa. It grows in the mountain under-woods. It is sometimes cultivated in local gardens, in particular in Congo and Cameroon. In Ethiopia, it can be found in Kambata and Dawro gardens, as well as in several "semi-cultivated" coffee forests: Bonga, Jimma. It is gathered with wild coffee and malagueta kororima: each forest coffee area also produces pepper.

A wide variety of uses
Its taste is hot, slightly pungent, but far less strong than Indian long pepper and pepper seeds. Furthermore, it is much more aromatic, or even sweetish with canella flavours.
Ethiopian long pepper has the same culinary uses as other peppers; it is, however, difficult to grind and preferably employed whole. The fruit spikes can be cooked with meat marinades, fish dishes, and will spice up the bland taste of vegetable soups. Timiz from Bonga, Jimma or Kambatta are especially recommended for their smoked flavour: they are dried on screens over household fireplaces.
Ethiopian long pepper can also be introduced in sweet, vanilla or chocolate-based preparations: it blends superbly with red-fruits marmalades and compotes.
In Ethiopia, it is crushed and nearly always enters as an ingredient in the mix of spices that compose mitimita, data and berbere condiments.
Its medicinal virtues should not be neglected: many essential oil retailer catalogues already include Piper capense extracts: they are reputed to have a vasodilatator effect, to stimulate digestion and to cure hepatic affections.

By Bernard Roussel, Professor at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris