The Products:
Tasmanian Pepper - Sold as whole berry and whole leaf as well as milled berry and milled leaf.

Wattle Seed - Sold as Roasted Wattle Seed. Has a wonderful warm fragrance and tastes of roasted nuts. Special order only - please ask.

Lemon-Myrtle - A very interesting alternative to lemon flavoring. Special order only - please ask.

The Pepper Plant
Tasmannia lanceolata - native or mountain pepper. Tasmania's native 'pepper' is an attractive shrub up to 5 meters high with dark green leaves and distinctive crimson young stems. It inhabits cool wet habitats from sea level to alpine regions in Tasmania.

The plant is dioecious (separate male and female) and bears black fruit, the size of a pea, containing numerous small seeds.

It is a member of the family Winteraceae, one of the group of plants associated with the ancient Gondwanan supercontinent, and members of the family are found on New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, parts of Indonesia, and from southern Mexico to Cape Horn and the Juan Fernandez group. Many members of the family have been used in traditional medicine in the regions in which they are found.

The leathery leaves of Tasmannia lanceolata contain a hot tasting compound (polygodial) which, together with many of the aromatic compounds common in other essential oil bearing plants, results in an unusual fragrant, spicy taste and a 'bushy' rainforest feel.

During the nineteenth century and the first half of this century, Tasmannia species were thought to have economic possibilities as a pepper or allspice substitute, and for their resemblance to a rare herbal remedy prepared from a related South American species. The leaves and berries of the plant are now used in Australia to lend a 'wild, natural, and spicy' taste to foods of the native food genre, such as emu hamburgers, flavored breads, pastas and pates, mustards and cheeses and are finding their way into the kitchens of many of the more innovative restaurants.

The Company
Diemen Pepper is a Tasmanian company which bases most of its production on leasehold stands in areas of high altitude and rainfall in the North West and North East of Tasmania - the Pepper's preferred habitat.

Sites are carefully managed to ensure no damage to their trees occurs during the sustainable harvesting procedures. They have an extended network of landholders and licensed collectors who gather fruit during the autumn and winter, and are able to guarantee supply of fruit each year (fruit yield is very variable from year to year and between districts).

Their objective is to provide prompt and reliable supply of a quality product, continually improve cleaning and processing capability and cooperate with end-users in developing further uses for Tasmanian Mountain Pepper.

The company is developing a line of leaf and fruit-based products for the Australian native food industry, refining collection, drying, cleaning and milling techniques to produce a reliable product, in substantial quantities, on a year round basis.

Careful assessment and the long term management of the sites are parts of a non-damaging and sustainable harvest method.

The Tasmanian Essential Oil Industry has helped fund an RIRDC project to develop the species as the source of a novel, spicy extract currently under evaluation by several international food and fragrance houses.

Company Web Site:
http://www.diemenpepper.com

Fleurty's Cafe is run by Diemen Pepper and features great food with unique tastes from the Diemen Pepper products.

Fleurty's Cafe
3866 Channel Hwy
Woodbridge 7162 TAS
Phone: (03) 6267 4078

This rural-retreat eatery is the ideal day-trip getaway. Drop by for a traditional morning or afternoon tea, or indulge in a leisurely lunch made up of home-grown produce.