Long Pepper - History

History

Long pepper reached Greece in the sixth or fifth century BCE, though Hippocrates, the first writer to mention it, discussed it as a medicament rather than a spice. Among the Greeks and Romans and prior to the European discovery of the New World, long pepper was an important and well-known spice. The ancient history of black pepper is often interlinked with (and confused with) that of long pepper, though Theophrastus distinguished the two in the first work of botany. The Romans knew of both and often referred to either as just piper; Pliny erroneously believed dried black pepper and long pepper came from the same plant. Round, or black pepper, began to compete with long pepper in Europe from the twelfth century and had displaced it by the fourteenth. The quest for cheaper and more dependable sources of black pepper fueled the Age of Discoveries; only after the discovery of the New World and of chili pepper, called by the Spanish pimiento, employing their word for long pepper, did the popularity of long pepper fade away. Chili peppers, some of which, when dried, are similar in shape and taste to long pepper, were easier to grow in a variety of locations more convenient to Europe. Today, long pepper is a rarity in general commerce. Long pepper is known to contain Piperlongumine, a compound believed to have an anti-tumor effect.