Description
The Voatsiperifery is very little known spice which name comes from ‘voa’ that means fruit, and ‘tsiperifery’, that is the name of the plant in the Malagasy language. This fruit belong to the Piperaceae botanical family. It grows on tall trees in the tropical forest, in the hot and humid regions in the south-east of the island of Madagascar where it is harvested by village communities. It can also be found on Réunion and Mauritius. It can be found as well under the names of well brown betel nut, wild or betalle pepper.
It is a small peppercorn with a small caudal appendage, available in 3 colors depending of thedegree of maturity: white, black and red. . It is a hand-picked wild pepper collected by the villagers of humid tropical forest zones. It is a rare product because the harvest is always difficult and the vines are sometimes inaccessible, growing up to 20 high and grows fruits are only on young shoots located on the highest part of the trees.
The stage of preparation is crucial due to the fragile watery nature of the corns. One kilo of dry spices requets 10 kilos of fresh corns. The corn turns red then black when dried.
Taste : very spicy, it has a woody and resinous taste, with earthy touches and citrus notes. It is slightly hot, fruity with a sublte taste.
Le Comptoir Des Poivres has worked on an even higher quality new product range.
For several months the company have been pooling their skills, and they have sought out products of unquestionable quality using the same philosophy – they look for products directly at their production locations, they refuse any chemical treatments both on the plant and the product and any irradiation (hypocritically called ionisation), they ensure that the people working in the plantations work in optimal conditions, they require many selection processes to keep only the most exceptional grains or berries, they refuse any long storage and transport the products without intermediaries, that is to say with maximum traceability.
Olivier Derenne, Founder
“Since my rural childhood, my life has been a perpetual search for authentic flavours, either while pottering round vegetable gardens, on walks through forests, local markets, at auctions, bakeries, grandmothers’ or mothers’ kitchens, in master cooks’ kitchens or even on trips across the world.
I’m someone who is eager to discover new sensations, scents, textures, flavours, not just to own them, but also to share them.
I like to tell stories about the wonders that surround us and the passion of men and women who give the best of themselves to bring you something exceptional.
My objective: to source the best, the most exclusive, the most authentic and most surprising and then narrate, share, transmit and astonish…”
