The Real Story.
Cambodia's finest pepper, produced only in Kampot, Cambodia. (continue reading....) Pepper fields surround downtown Kampot. The pepper, which is almost all exported, is considered the finest pepper worldwide. Black, Red, White or Green, it all works.
The Green Pepper is fresh pepper from the vines. It has a short shelf life. Red Pepper occurs naturally, about 10% of the time on a vine (that's why it costs more). White Pepper is Red Pepper soaked in water a few days and the skin is peeled off. Black Pepper is the green peppercorn after it is dried in the sun a few days. The Red, Black and White are all sun dried at some point.
You can visit a pepper plantation on your trip to Kampot. All the tour services have special Pepper Tours, or you can just get out into the fields yourself (with permission from the farmer, of course)
Kep, Kampot's neighbor, also has many Kampot Pepper Plantations. Until the late 2000's, Kep was part of Kampot. Also, Kampot Pepper originally comes from what is now Kep Province, the smallest province in Cambodia.
The unique flavor of Kampot Pepper is thought to come from the quartz content in the soil here, but nobody really knows.
Also, all the Certified Kampot Pepper is organically grown, and chemical free.
The pepper grown here under the World Trade Organization’s Geographical Indication (GI) status starting in 2010, and is sought out worldwide for it's taste. (it also costs a whole lot more than your average pepper)
(Special thanks to Norbert, one of the World's Leading Kampot Pepper Experts, from Sothy's Pepper farm in Kep, for a whole lot of this. info)
Many of these Kampot Pepper farms also have a variety of local fruit trees and vegetables growing on the farm, and you'll probably be interested in these too!
These places are all on Pepper Road in Kep.
The entrance to Pepper Road
Go past the Kep Market on the road to Vietnam (Kampong Trach). A few minute drive on the left side of the road, you'll see and entrance with signs for all these places on a large dirt road. The next few kilometers down the road, you'll find one after another. This is beautiful countryside, surrounded by small, tree covered hills. Also, you'll see several farms filled with fruit trees, like bananas, durian, mango, corn, coconuts and many more fruits and vegetables.
Also, more Kampot Pepper Farms in Kampot, on the Kampot-Cambodia.com website.
These are all just a bit further out from Kep than the plantations on Pepper Road
Kampot Pepper Farm covered with shade leaves
Kampot Pepper Vines
Weeding
Green Kampot Pepper
Sorting the good Kampot Pepper from the bad, and the Red from the Green
The special Quartz rock, in the dirt around Kep, that makes this Pepper special.
Leaves and nuts, ground up and fermented, make a natural pest repellent.
