Uda Pepper

Musky, Mild and Spicy!

Here is another rare tropical ingredient, popular in North and West Africa. This seed is the special ingredient in African delicacies Suya, Shitto and Pepper Soup. The pods are crushed and added whole to soups or stews, then removed before serving the food. Smoked pods can be ground before being used as a spice rub for fish. In northern Cameroon it is one of three spices added to tea, along with dried ginger and cloves.

Also known as Selim Pepper, it has a smokey, musky and 'resiny' taste with a hint of pepper, but no real piperine heat or warm feeling to it. Selim pepper is also called Negro pepper, grains of Selim, moor pepper, or Senegal pepper.

Uda pods and Kieng, which all reveal its ancient origins. The seeds are used as a spice like black pepper, and as a flavouring agent that defines cafe Touba, the dominant style of coffee in Senegal. It is also a prominent feature in Nigerian Pepper Soup as well as many other recipes.