[Sca-cooks] False Cubeb Alert

[Chris Stanifer]

Hello the list,

During my search for a reliable cubeb source, I came
across this information, which I decided to post "just
in case"...


"Description : Among numerous false cubebs, the fruits
of Piper Crassipes are probably the best known. And
since they occur so frequently in commercial lots of
cubeb that they am often distilled with true cubeb, or
even distilled as true cubeb by unexperienced
distillers. The fruits of Piper Crassipes are
generally smaller than true cubebs and when crushed
between the fingers or in a mortar, they emit a sweet,
cineole type odor, in contrast to the spicy warm,
aromatic woody odor of true cubebs. The color of Piper
Crassipes fruits is grayish, while true cubebs are
brown or reddish brown in color. Oil of Piper
Crassipes is a greenish yellow, somewhat viscous
liquid of faint, but fresh medicinal odor, slightly
reminiscent of niaouli oil and with a dryout of a
clove terpene type odor or cedrela odorata type odor."

Is there a danger of getting "false cubeb" when we
order cubebs from our suppliers?  I don't know... but
now that we know the difference, we can keep an eye
out for it.

For those of you who have already seen this
information, I appologize for the redundancy.

Balthazar of Blackmoor



=====
Spiders are relatively high in protein...but they tickle.

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