Batak berry

Harvesting the Batak Berry

The Batak berries are wild-harvested in the northern part of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia by the ethnic group of the same name, also known as the "Toba people". They come from a thorny shrub: the Zanthoxylum acanthopodium, a cousin of Szechuan peppers, which grows at 1500m altitude, on the heights of Samosir.

The Batak people are recognized in Indonesia for their qualities as musicians, their great rhetorical skills, their architecture, and their constant questioning of Indonesian authorities. They live in communities in the regions bordering Lake Toba.

The berries are also called "Andaliman Pepper," "Batak Pepper," or "Intir Intir." They grow at an altitude of 1500m north of Tapanuli and Samosir, near Lake Toba. This region is nicknamed "the kingdom of the Bataks."

The Berry of the Batak Kingdom!

The Batak people are a Christian ethnic group living around Lake Toba, a vast volcanic crater. The Samosir peninsula, located north of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, is the legendary homeland of the Batak ethnic group. Once cannibals, the Bataks remained protected from foreign influences until the 19th century.

Aromatic Impressions of the Batak Berry

On the palate, it has a soft, almost sweet texture.
Once ground, this "Andaliman pepper" releases fresh and slightly acidic notes.

Using the Batak Berry in Cooking

Like a pepper, this berry awakens, ignites, and delights the taste buds with:

• A black and white chocolate mousse decorated with red fruits.
• A braised piece of veal with a simple jus.
• A delicate marinated wild salmon.
• A good fresh goat cheese.

Food-spice pairing: a delicate marinated wild salmon, a fish poached in a garlic broth, a fresh goat cheese, or a braised piece of veal.

Typical Batak dish: "Ikan mas arsik" or "goldfish with Arsik sauce". This is a dish of carp caught in Lake Toba. The carp are cooked in a wok and accompanied by a sauce made of torch ginger, shallot, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, whole turmeric, and chili peppers.

The Batak berry is available in the custom-made set dedicated to peppers from around the world

Learn more about pepper

What is a "pepper"?

Piperology: the science that studies peppers

Learn more about the Zanthoxylum genus and its species