Item Tag: Congo

Grains of paradise is also known as Guinea Pepper and Melegueta Pepper. Grains of Paradise are small reddish-brown seeds from Africa. They have a zesty, peppery, floral flavor with hints of coriander and cardamom. What does it work well with? Since it has spicy, warming, and cooling flavors, pretty much anything. You can use it just like black pepper, ground during cooking to impregnate its flavor. Since it tastes like so many things, you can use it to both enhance and contrast the main flavors of a dish. How you pair it and when you add it also impact its final taste. You can emphasize its citrus flavors by cracking some into salad dressings. Curries and rich sauces are the beneficiaries of its sweet warmth, as are ginger breads and spice cakes. In all of these there’s that peppery heat, but it’s so much less punchy than black peppers (though no less flavorful) that it’s rarely unwelcome. It’s perfect on fish with lemon and adds intriguing flavors to shrimp and mussels. It does awesome things for roasted vegetables. No matter what you use it on, I’d recommend a dual-application approach: Add some while cooking and just before serving to preserve its full range of flavor.If there are any issues with the order, please contact me to sort out the problem prior to providing feedback.