Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Senegal Pepper along with all the Senegal Pepper containing recipes presented on this site, with 5 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain as a major flavouring.

Sénégal Pepper (also known as Negro Pepper, Grains of Selim, African Grains of Selim, Moor Pepper, Kili, Congo Pepper, Kani Pepper, Country Pepper, Selim Kili Pepper, Udah Pods and Poivre de Sénégal) represents the fruit of Xylopia aethiopica or Xylopia striata, members of the Annonacea (custard apple) family. The genus name, Xylopia itself derives from the Greek: ξύλον πικρόν (xylom pikron) ‘bitter wood’. Generally, the commonest form is X aethiopica (top image) where the fruit look rather like small, twisted, bean pods which, typically, are dark brown to green in hue and some 3–5 cm long and grow in clusters at the centre of the plant.

X striata (centre image) is more commonly found in Sénégal and tends to be a broader and longer pod (1cm broad and up to 6cm long when dried) invariably dark brown in colour. Though the form sold in the markets (bottom image) is often black in colour and possessed of a sticky consistency due to its having been smoked when raw not having been dried before being sold.

As a spice Sénégal Pepper should always be used whole and ground, as the hull of the fruit lends the spice its aromatic notes whilst the seeds within lend pungency and bitterness to the flavour. Before use you should always, therefore, grind the spice in a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar. The taste is often described as a mixture of cubeb pepper and nutmeg, with a note of resin. It has a very sharp, aromatic, pungent taste with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Both X aethiopica and X striata fruit have a similar sensory quality in that they are quite pungent with aromatic overtones supplied by the hull and a slight bitter finish to their flavour. Sénégal pepper (most commonly X striata) is often smoked during preparation and this lends it a smoky-spicy flavour that makes it an excellent rubbing spice for barbecued meats. It is also used in Nigeria as one of the ingredients in traditonal pepper soup blends.

Both species are natives of tropical Africa (with ranges extending from Ghana to Ethiopia), though X aethiopica is most commonly grown in Ghana. A related species, X aromatica (burro pepper) is used in Brazil.

During medieval times Sénégal pepper was commonly used in Europe as an alternative to black pepper, though with the advent of the spice trade and the availability of regular shipments of black pepper arriving in Europe from the 16^th century onwards it's use declined precipitously. Indeed, the only time this spice has subsequently been used in Europe to any extent was from the mid 1930s to the start of the 1960s due to black pepper shortages during and immediately after the Second World War.

Although Sénégal Pepper has the 'heat' of black pepper it is not truly suited as an alternative because of its bitter overtones and it is this bitterness that explains why this spice is seldom seen outside it’s native region today, however, the bitterness is much reduced if the spice is hot-smoked prior to use. Which is not to say that Sénégal Pepper does not have its uses in West African 'soups' (stews) and as a rubbing spice for grilled or barbecued meats. Because of its bitterness the unsmoked pods tend to be lightly crushed before being added to soups and stews. The pod is then removed before serving. It is often sold by specialized spice merchants as 'Selim Kili Pepper'.