Long black pepper is an ancient spice, most commonly known as Indian long pepper or pippali. It is from the plant Piper longum, and is related to the common round black pepper. History tells us it was the primary pepper used by the Greeks and Roman, making its way from India over long and dangerous trade routes. It was exorbitantly priced because of this. The molecule that we taste as peppery is called piperine. This molecule seems sharper and stronger in long black pepper b

In January, I travelled through Ethiopia for 3 weeks, an absolutely amazing experience. There was a mix of history, lots of history, wildlife, tribal communities and of course food. One of the events that my wonderful guide, and now friend, Taffesse, curated for me was a cooking session with Rose in the mountains. Rose taught me about a host of traditional recipes, and of course, shiro. As we left, she walked out with a bag of shiro, a gift, one that has come home with me. I

Indian broad beans are commonly found across India, and are a favourite. They are seen as huge piles at the market or at a vegetable grocer, and shoppers gather around to pick out the most tender beans. They are also called papdi in Gujarat, Bakla in Bengali, Avarakkai in Tamil, and Kadale kayi in Kannada. Vepudu is a specific cooking technique from Andhra Pradesh, similar to Asian stir-fry. But it differs in that water is usually added to the wok to blanch the vegetables. Th

I was shopping at my fruit seller, and he popped one of these into my basket. I asked him what these were and he mumbled something, I still have no idea what he said. So here I was at home with a fruit, or pumpkin, and no idea what to do with it. I fed Gemini with an image and was educated. Given that it is called the Japanese tiger melon, or Sakare Sweet, this melon belongs to Central Asia, modern-day Iran and Afghanisthan. They moved along the Silk route Eastwood through Ch