Description
Kampot Peppercorns (Piper Nigrum) come in four varieties. Green, Black, Red & White. We bring in the fresh green peppercorns a few times a year but we carry all of the other varieties year round. When some of the fruit on the pepper vines begins to turn red then they begin to harvest the green peppercorns that are sun dried and hand sorted to select only the best formed and largest fruit. Any fruit that has turned red is left on the vine for up to four months, the added time in direct sunlight produces a sweet, aromatic pepper – Kampot Red. Once the red peppercorns are harvested and dried they take some of the best red fruit and put it in a brine solution then it is sun dried and the outer skin is rubbed off by hand revealing the inner fruit and producing the most rare and delicate of peppers – Kampot White.
Kampot Sea Salt is an artisanal, organic table salt. It is handcrafted by local harvesters using simple tools, mostly made of wood, including hoes, spades, rakes, and baskets) and occurs only in the dry season. In October and November channels and dikes are prepared and the clay surface of the evaporation pools is compacted with a simple pounding implement. Next, water is pumped into reservoir ponds, either directly from the sea or from canals. As the water flows from the reservoir pond through a series of evaporation pools (usually five) over the course of about 40 days, the salinity increases. Once the water reaches the crystallization pond, the salt precipitates out and is raked into small piles to dry before being collected and then stored in warehouses at the edge of the ponds. Salt harvesting takes place from January to March, and after each batch is harvested, the pools must be cleaned and compacted before the cycle can begin again.
