The Peppy Pepper

Aussie Bush Tucker Doesn’t Come Much Spicier Than Our Native Mountain Pepper

- Chloe Thomson

Variously known as mountain pepper, pepperberry and Tasmanian pepper, Tasmannia lanceolata is a temperate rainforest tree — more exactly, a large shrub — native to south-eastern Australia.

Its spicy, aromatic leaves and berries can be used to fl avour foods and for centuries were used by Aboriginal people as a traditional medicine. In colonial times, it was prescribed for scurvy.

In his 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia, Joseph Maiden described the use of “pepper tree” as a condiment, “being a fair substitute for pepper or rather allspice. The leaves and bark also have a hot, biting, cinnamon-like taste.”

Though similar in taste to common black pepper, mountain pepper packs quite a bit more heat and a sharper, spicier fl avour. It’s rich in antioxidants and the dried leaves and berries can be used as an antimicrobial to prevent food spoilage.

GROWING & CARE