category: food/groceries: Länderküche: Australien: spices

Alpine Pepper, snow pepper bot.: Tasmannia xerophila, Drimys xerophila

Alpine Pepper is an evergreen shrub in the order of Tasmannia. The leaves and fruits of some species in this genus are used as native pepper in Australia. Other varieties used as a spice are Tasmanian pepper (bot.: Tasmannia lanceolata) and Dorrigo pepper (bot.: Tasmannia stipitata).

Alpine Pepper is a round shrub up to 1.5 m high with small berries. It grows in cooler Australian mountain regions. The leaves are used as a spice and are mostly sold dried and ground. Its berries are rarely sold. Alpine pepper leaves are hot and aromatic, they look reddish when dried. They are used to substitute black pepper. Use as much Alpine pepper as you would use normal pepper.