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The Greater Pepper Family
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Published 2008
The Piperaceae family is a truly extended one with exotic and little-known relatives scattered in far-away places. The family includes more than two thousand species in addition to ordinary pepper (Piper nigrum). The better known, such as long pepper and cubeb pepper, are discussed in greater detail on the preceding pages; some of the more obscure types are described below.
In many cases it is the aromatic leaves, rather than the berries, that are used, either chopped up as a seasoning, or left whole and used as a wrapper for other foods. Some are used in medicines and herbal tisanes, or even to make snuff. Most of these species are uncultivated; they grow locally in the wild and are hard to find outside their region of origin. However, they occasionally show up in stores selling Asian, Indian and African groceries. Fresh leaves can be frozen and are worth buying if you come across them.