Kabab chini
Cubeb, a tailed pepper with a piney, allspice-like taste once a staple of medieval European kitchens.
Also: cubeb, tailed pepper, java pepper, sheetal chini
Kabab chini is the dried berry of Piper cubeba, a vine of Java and Indonesia, recognised by the small stalk, or tail, left on each berry. It tastes like a blend of pepper, allspice and pine, with a camphor edge and a cooling finish. Medieval European and Arab cooks used it widely before black pepper became cheap, and it flavours Moroccan blends such as ras el hanout. In India it appears in Mughal cooking and in kebab marinades, which gave it its name. Today it is rare, and used mostly in specialist blends, gin and some cigarettes. Crack the berries before use.