Kampot Pepper-The World Most Prized Pepper?

KPPA, Kampot Pepper Promotion Association

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Generations of pepper planters 

Producers growing pepper in Kampot today come from several Producers growing pepper in Kampot today come from several generations of pepper planters. They came back on their land after the civil war was over and started to farm pepper using their traditional methods inherited from their ancestors. . They came back on their land after the civil war was over and started to farm pepper using their traditional methods inherited from their ancestors. 

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Ancestral know-how 

These pepper lovers, smitten with their product, proud of their traditional values and definitely looking into the future, are the keepers of an ancestral know-how, of a way of production where the man and his land make one with a unique goal: producing the highest quality pepper.

  In full: http://www.kampotpepper.biz/

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The History of Kampot Pepper

Pepper has been cultivated in Cambodia, and specifically the Kampot region, for over 1,000 years – since the time of the Khmer Empire and the kings that built the Temples of Angkor. The first documented account is from the Chinese emissary, Zhou Daguan who documented much of what we know of early Cambodian history – including the delectable pepper right alongside mighty temples in his written accounts at the time.

European Traders

Kampot was home to an early sea port in the mid 1800’s, and under Cambodian rule it opened it’s doors to welcome European sailors and merchants from over the oceans to trade in pepper and other goods. The French culinary experts were particularly taken with Kampot pepper, and started a booming trade with top end restaurants in Paris. Chefs from all over France would clamour at the dockside markets to buy this beautiful aromatic pepper from the East.

The peak time for production and trade of Kampot pepper was in the 1930s and 1940s, with a reported 100 tonnes being produced a year from 100 hectares of cultivated land. These days production is a mere 15-20 tonnes a year but this is increasing year on year with hopes to restore demand for the product to the heights it enjoyed in the early twentieth century.

In full: http://www.starling-farm.com/kampot-pepper/history/

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Trip Advisor: Things to do

The Kampot Pepper Shop

Overview

The Kampot Pepper Shop specializes in selling and educating people about the King of Spices, Kampot Pepper. We sell Black, Red and White peppers, and explain the story and history behind the world's favorite Pepper. Used by 3-star chefs the world over, Kampot Pepper now boasts the coveted EU-PGI Status.

 

In full: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g608455-d10819469-Reviews-The_Kampot_Pepper_Shop-Kampot_Kampot_Province.html

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BBC, The world's most prized pepper?

 By Robert Reid,16 January 2020

Only by the late ‘90s, long after the Khmer Rouge lost power, did local farmers – many with generations’ of peppercorn farming running through their veins – return to their roots.

A recent re-emergence of a flowering vine that grows on poles in south-east Cambodia is the product of a local strategy paved with the best of intentions. But the road to reach the farms is not paved at all (...)

 

Kampot, a city of nearly 50,000 people a few miles inland from the Gulf of Thailand, is the kind of place with enough buzz not to be a “backwater”, yet is quiet enough to cross the street without fear of busy traffic. It’s easy to see why several hundred expats call it home (...)

How does world-class pepper grow?

Peppercorn vines grow up poles laid out in neatly lined plots. Green peppercorns first appear by September, then ripen into the new year. Farmers hand-pick peppercorns and dry some of them in the sun for a couple days, which turns them black. White peppercorns are black peppercorns that have been soaked in water and stripped of their skins. Two months later, it’s time for the red peppercorns, which are peppercorns left to fully ripen on the vine until they turn a vibrant crimson colour.

My dusty drive took me to a few farms, starting with the biggest – and best-advertised – the French-Belgian-run La Plantation, which employs 150 local farmers (more during harvest).

In full: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200115-the-worlds-most-prized-pepper 

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