Tasmannia stipitata
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Dorrigo Pepper | ||||||||||||||
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
Tasmannia stipitata (Vick.) A.C. Smith |
Tasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo Pepper or Northern Pepperbush is a rainforest shrub of temperate forests of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Leaves are fragrant, narrow-lanceolate to narrow-elliptic, 8-13 cm long. Dark bluish to mauve berries follow the flowers on female shrubs. The species is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
[edit] Culinary use
The culinary qualities of T. stipitata were recognized in the mid-1980s by horticulturist, Peter Hardwick, who gave it the name 'Dorrigo pepper', and Jean-Paul Bruneteau, then chef at Rowntrees Restaurant, Sydney. It is mainly wild harvested from the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Dorrigo pepper has a woody peppery note in the leaves and fruit/seed. The hot peppery flavor is derived from polygodial, an essential oil component. Dorrigo pepper is also naturally free of safrole (a banned toxin), unlike some other Tasmannia species.
[edit] References
- Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, Tukka - Real Australian Food, ISBN 0-207-18966-8
- Harden, G.J., Flora of New South Wales, Volume 1, ISBN 0-86840-164-1