Kerala, cradle of Pepper
From Antiquity and thanks to the discovery, mainly by the Persians, the Arabs and the Venetians, the Europeans brought spices to their trading posts, on the lands of India, where they settled during this period. And we will find, written traces, of the famous Marcus Gavius Apicius, figure of the Roman high society, as a precious testimony on the art of cooking and of accommodating the spices to the dishes prepared in Rome and under the Roman Empire.
Indeed, India was one of the most coveted countries for spices and especially for the variety of peppers found there.
Once, the time of Alexandria and Ancient Rome passed, Vasco da Gama, one of the greatest explorers of the seas, of the medieval period, fell in love with this continent and discovered a sea route conducive to trade with Europe. .
Located on the Tropical Indian Coast of Malabar, about 600 km from the coast of the Arabian Sea, a region reveals a real treasure, in terms of spices but mainly in pepper... the Kerala region...
Region, which remains to this day, the pepper attic of India, the cradle of pepper.
Indeed, everything is there for the pepper to reveal its wonders. Kerala is a region with a tropical climate, with extremely hot temperatures in summer, alternating periods of monsoons, where abundant rains promote humidity, conducive to the development of pepper which needs both.
Kerala is a region 5 times greater than the area of France, with the Malabar Coast and the Western Ghats, a region of mountains, at very high altitudes, reaching up to 1000 m, even 2000 m and where without fertilizer, without pesticides , nor fertilizers, pepper thus grows in the wild, or in a reasoned way, without any chemistry, when it is cultivated. The Ghats, these small plots, where the earth is regenerated in a natural way, by a vegetable compost when the branches or the leaves fall, thus favor the luxuriant growth of the pepper. Spices other than pepper are also grown on these plots, such as Vanilla, Cardamom, Turmeric and Clove, which thus brings a particular flavor to Kerala Pepper.
In Kerala and more precisely in the region of Wayanad (green paradise), pepper often takes the name of the locality, the region and even sometimes the family where it is grown or harvested. Thus, the main peppers are Black and White from Malabar, Red from Pondicherry or Kerala. Tellichery pepper TGSEB (Grade Tellichery Garbled Special Extra Bold), the ancestor of all peppers, has perfectly sized grains. It is the oldest of all the varieties of peppers combined.
Kerala is therefore the region, at the tip of southern India, with all its history of conquests and merchants, the one where there are still influences, Portuguese, English, Dutch, even Chinese, both in the shop fronts, the local cuisine, than by the architecture.
Kochi, a former merchant port, bringing together the oldest diasporas in the world since 1341, has continued and continues to establish maritime flows between Kerala and the whole world for the supply of this real "Black Gold".
Main production region, Kerala is the real cradle of pepper and it is not surprising that its fixed price is decided in Bombay and New Delhi.
