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Do you enjoy food with refined taste and the highest quality? Of course, you can find a wide range of manufacturers or traders on the market who do not spare praise for their products. However, these words are not always backed by truth and often it is just a marketing strategy aimed at one thing: selling. So how to recognize a truly quality product? Quality guarantee for the customer The answer to this question can be the Great Taste award. This award can be compared to some kind of Oscar of the gastronomy world or Michelin stars in the world of gastronomic establishments. It is basically an accreditation system that gives the consumer certainty that the product they are buying meets the highest quality standards. Whether the registered product is awarded the Great Taste star is decided by a jury composed of more than 500 highly respected experts – called the Guild of Fine Food. They can award the product one, two, or even three stars if it is truly an exceptional gastronomic experience. However, the product can also leave empty-handed if it does not appeal. What exactly does the number of stars mean? 1 star: simply deliciousThis is a product that stands out with its fantastic taste. According to the Guild of Fine Food jury, about 25% of all registered products receive their star. 2 stars: extraordinaryAn exceptionally tasty food. Less than 10% of registered products receive this rating. 3 stars: outstandingAn unusually delicate and tasty product! Every year, only 2% of registered foods worldwide receive this rating. The jury themselves recommend that you definitely do not leave the store without purchasing it. How many stars can you find with us? Since last year's competition edition, we can boast several Great Taste stars. For example, our dark red Kampot pepper has them. Our freeze-dried pepper achieved the greatest success on a global scale. Not only did it receive a report card shining with three stars, but we also managed to achieve the highest award that can be obtained in the world of gastronomy. If we mentioned that Great Taste can be perceived as the gastronomic equivalent of the film Oscars, then the golden statue that every entrant wishes to take home from the competition is the so-called Golden Fork. It is awarded to the best of the best, and in last year’s edition, only 14 out of more than 14,000 registered products from 108 countries worldwide received it. Our freeze-dried pepper was one of them. What captivated the judges about this freeze-dried green pepper so much? Try it yourself!

It is almost unbelievable how the quality of food can reflect in our everyday life. Quality food influences the quality of prepared dishes, which naturally affects overall health, both physical and mental condition. But how to recognize which products and ingredients are truly the quality ones? For example, by the so-called Golden Fork. Movie stars receive a golden statue, gastronomic forks If we were to describe the Golden Fork award, the best comparison would be to the famous Oscars. While the ticket to the Oscars gala evening is a nomination from the Film Academy, in the case of the Golden Fork, the nomination is obtained by earning three stars in the Great Taste competition, which is exactly what the Golden Fork awards. Who receives the three stars is decided by a jury composed of 500 jurors. They then select the best of the best, who are awarded the Golden Fork. Until last year, you would not have found any Czech gastronomic product that achieved this highest award. However, last year we managed the almost impossible and out of more than 14,000 products, we became one of the 14 awarded with the Golden Fork statue. Read the full article on how it all actually happened. A world unique item you won’t find anywhere else We received this highest award in the world of gastronomy for our freeze-dried green Kampot pepper. What the jury appreciated about it was not only its extraordinary taste but overall they were impressed by the philosophy of our brand .pepper..field. In the world, there are not many foods where you can be sure that by purchasing them you directly support the farmers who grew them on their plantations behind their modest homes. By buying pepper from .pepper..field, you directly influence the lives of Cambodians in the most positive sense of the word. It guarantees them a higher standard of living, which in their case means a regular supply of food, access to medical care for themselves and their whole family, and the opportunity to provide education for their children. And that is the greatest reward for us, overshadowing even the golden shine of the gastronomic Golden Fork award.

Sometimes people embark on projects that they initially consider just an experiment and don't have too many expectations from. This is exactly how the story of our freeze-dried pepper started, which became one of the best gastronomic delicacies in the world. You no longer have to go all the way to Cambodia for fresh pepper Its story began at the moment when we were pondering how to offer customers the taste of fresh peppercorns. The taste of fresh green berries is significantly different from that of subsequently dried grains. How to do it? If we had simply harvested, packed, and shipped fresh peppercorns to Europe, they would have arrived from Asia in a condition definitely unsuitable for consumption. Kampot pepper is an organic product that has no protective layer of pesticides. Therefore, it was first necessary to come up with a way to preserve the peppercorns and prepare them for the long journey. Our helper in this task was a special brine made from fleur de sel. We designed its recipe so that it could maintain the freshness of the fruits during their long journey while significantly not altering the unique taste, which was the alpha and omega of the entire project. On the contrary – to enhance this taste! He came, he saw, he was fresh, and he conquered The next task came when we opened the fresh, marinated pepper from Cambodia at home. We had to think about how to get it to customers in the freshest possible form. Leaving the fruits in the brine was one solution, but it did not meet our requirements for shelf life and quality. So what next? The answer appeared essentially by itself when Lukáš, one of our co-founders, started talking during the For Gastro fair with Lukáš Zach from Zach's pesto & chilli. Lukáš already had extensive experience with so-called lyophilization, which, according to him, could be the solution. And he was right! After numerous attempts to freeze-dry the peppercorns, we finally succeeded in creating a unique product and a world rarity that won the Golden Fork award for its taste, the equivalent of an Oscar in the world of gastronomy.  Discover its unique, natural taste yourself.

It is Sunday afternoon and at the trade fair in Yorkshire County, England, the jury of the Guild of Fine Food announces the final results of the Golden Fork, the highest gastronomic trophy that can be won in a worldwide competition. A total of 14,113 products from 108 countries around the world entered the competition, and only 14 of them will achieve this symbolic gastronomic Oscar. Among the global competition consisting of the best rums from South America or renowned Norwegian cheeses is also our freeze-dried pepper. "It is not often that a newcomer receives such a high award in the competition, " we hear from the surrounding experienced competitors. We nervously wait for the result until the last moment. And then it comes. Our freeze-dried pepper has officially become the best and most golden in the world! In the entire 27-year history of the Great Taste Awards competition, no other product from the Czech Republic has ever won this trophy. More than 500 jurors of the Guild of Fine Food evaluate all the products entered into the competition over two months. Each is carefully tasted blind by top chefs, buyers, sellers, restaurateurs, and food critics. The foods are then rated with one, two, and three stars. Among the global competition, it is very rare to find 3 stars for Czech products. This year, two types of our Kampot pepper could boast the Great Taste award, which is itself a great global success. It has never happened before that a Czech product achieved even higher and confirmed its nomination for the Golden Fork. And then we came. We are now officially the only holders of this globally recognized gastronomic trophy thanks to our freeze-dried green Kampot pepper, which we freeze-dry on Czech machines with a unique recipe. Confirmed – our pepper is really the best in the world Jurors in the Great Taste Awards competition look for truly excellent taste regardless of brand or packaging. With our freeze-dried pepper, they can find not only that – it is a worldwide unique product. “At the beginning, there was a desire to bring truly fresh pepper to Europe. Its delicate taste, when the still green pepper is picked from the pepper vine,” describes our Lukáš, co-founder of the brand. In order for a product to be nominated for the Golden Fork award at all, it must win 3 stars at the Great Taste, which were announced this September. Out of 218 products awarded this way, 33 later achieved a Golden Fork nomination – and the nomination itself meant a huge success for us. Only 14 awarded foods worldwide ultimately won. Absolutely special and unique food, this is the final verdict of the strict Guild of Fine Food jury. With our Kampot pepper, you also know that you are buying in a maximally fair way and supporting a good cause. „ It is an indescribable feeling to be ranked among the world's top foods such as the best cheeses, virgin olive oils, or delicacies like oysters. It is an honor for us and we are sure that fresh freeze-dried Kampot pepper definitely belongs among them,“ agree Lukáš and Lenka, both co-founders of our brand and this year's proud exhibitors of freeze-dried pepper in England. We conquered the global competition and can thus help more people Since 2018, when we founded the project, we have supported over 200 small farming families in the Kampot region of Cambodia by purchasing Kampot pepper in the fairest and most sustainable way. In the same year, the Czech Development Agency joined our project and helped us develop freeze-dried pepper as part of a development program thanks to the purchase of Czech machines from LYOTRADE, on which we then further freeze-dry fresh pepper. What you will receive from us is real authentic Cambodia, and in return, you can be sure that you are helping specific people live a quality life even in other parts of the world. „When you treat pepper this way, it only needs to be soaked at home in oil or any liquid, and the pellet will absorb moisture again and return to the same form it was in just before being picked,“ explains our Klára, co-founder of the brand. „We wanted to deliberately develop a product in the Czech Republic that no one else in the world has and thanks to which our farming families can be competitive with large foreign farms that currently dominate the Kampot region,“ she adds with a smile. Actions speak louder than words The fact that we really help and try to change the world for the better is also proven by our this year's win in the SDG Awards, where the Association of Social Responsibility recognized us as the second-best company in the Business category. As one of the most sustainable companies in the Czech Republic, we set even higher goals for ourselves in the future to help Cambodian farming families thanks to our gradual expansion into foreign markets this year and in the following years.

An absolute world unique – this is freeze-dried fresh Kampot pepper with sea salt flower. The special lyophilization process ensures that the food treated in this way retains maximum freshness, quality, and very intense flavor accents. In the case of Kampot pepper flavored with sea salt flower, this process means a real flavor explosion – which was noticed this year even by the strict jury of the Guild of Fine Food, which meets in London at the prestigious Great Taste Awards and awarded it three stars. Kampot freeze-dried pepper thus joined the 1.5% of foods awarded in this way. A food that nobody else in the world has For 27 years, the jury has been appreciating the best foods in the world. Every year they receive their "film Oscar." More than 500 jurors evaluate all the products entered into the competition over two months. Each of them is carefully tasted blind by top chefs, buyers, sellers, restaurateurs, or food critics. Among the global competition, historically only two Czech foods have found a place for three stars. Now, among them, as another golden winner, is the freeze-dried green Kampot pepper, which we import to the Czech Republic as a 100% organic fair trade product. The jurors in the Great Taste Awards competition look for truly excellent taste regardless of brand or packaging. With freeze-dried pepper, they can find more than that. "At the beginning, there was a desire to bring truly fresh pepper to Europe. Its delicate taste, when the green pepper is still picked from the pepper vine," describes Lukáš Hejtmánek, one of our founders, who was significantly involved in the development of freeze-dried pepper from the start. Lyophilization or freeze drying Lyophilization is a process during which the peppercorns are deeply dried using freezing, and thanks to it, the pepper retains its maximum authentic flavor, which is incomparable to any other types of pepper in the world. "When you treat pepper this way, you just need to soak it at home in oil or any liquid, and the pellet will absorb moisture again and return to the same form it was just before being picked," explains Lukáš. All the interesting details about the lyophilization process and recommendations on how to work with our pepper in the kitchen can be found in our article where the idea of freeze-dried Kampot pepper was born. Three stars mean in the Great Taste Awards jargon one simple word: excellent. It is an award for an extraordinarily tasty food, which less than 2% of the products entered worldwide receive each year. The award itself invites you not to leave the store without buying such a food. With us, you can also be sure that you are shopping as sustainably as possible and supporting a good cause.  A gastronomic unique with heart in the right place When we started our .pepper..field project in 2018, the Czech Development Agency joined us. As part of the development program in Cambodia, which aims to improve the economic situation of small farmers, it also helped us develop freeze-dried pepper thanks to the purchase of Czech freeze-dryers LYOTRADE, on which it is dried. This way, the customer receives real authentic Cambodia at home, and in return, they can be sure that they are helping specific people live a quality life in other parts of the world. Chefs also like to cook with freeze-dried pepper Our freeze-dried pepper has become popular in renowned Czech restaurants. For example, Casa de Carli in Prague now cooks its menu incorporating it! We can also find it in the menu in London, where it was used during a three-star dinner at the famous Copper & Ink restaurant by MasterChef finalist and one of the judges of the competition, Tony Rodd. As the name of the dinner suggests, the dishes were made from star-awarded foods of this year. We can’t wait to share some of these recipes. It is an indescribable feeling to be counted among the top world foods such as the best cheeses, virgin olive oils, or delicacies like oysters. It is an honor for us, and we are sure that fresh freeze-dried Kampot pepper definitely belongs among them. 

Fresh green pepper is a unique product that you won't easily find on the domestic market. It is extremely difficult to transport green peppercorns across half the planet without losing any of their quality. Therefore, green pepper must be processed in a certain way to preserve its quality. After drying, it becomes the classic black pepper, which some traders soak in a salty brine similar to capers. However, this process diminishes the pepper's characteristic flavor.  Fresh, almost like from the plantation That is why we chose the method of freeze-drying green pepper, which allows us to deliver it to your table in a form that retains most of its freshness. At home, you just need to soak it, add moisture, and the pepper will return to its original state. It is important to remind that green pepper does not belong in the grinder. The aroma of green pepper from the Kampot region is clear and spicy with subtle fruity notes of lime, resting on a camphor and mint base with delicate hints of green apple. After fully developing, green pepper brings a pleasant scent of pine and citrus fruits with a subtle hint of nectarine freshness. A taste that rivals none The taste of green pepper is full of freshness and sparkle. It can be compared to black pepper, but with a much more interesting hint of nuts. Green pepper is mild and slightly spicy with a tone of Kampot soil full of minerals and local salt permeated by the climate. Green pepper is a somewhat different gourmet experience than other types of Kampot pepper. It takes you straight to the pepper plantation and lets you taste a small piece of the Kampot paradise in its most authentic form.

"We would like to taste the fresh green pepper just as you eat it in Cambodia, " we often heard from customers. So we got excited about this idea until a complete world unique – freeze-dried fresh green Kampot pepper. In short, our farmers picked fresh green berries, which we vacuum-packed together with salt and sent to us in the Czech Republic. Here we subsequently rented a freeze dryer from the Czech company LYOTRADE, and the spicy treasure was born! However, the freeze-drying process takes a very long time, so its supply is very limited. Why is freeze-dried pepper so good? The special freeze-drying process serves to preserve the maximum quality, freshness, and flavor accents of genuine fresh Kampot pepper – from Cambodia all the way to your plate! This pepper, like our other peppers, is a 100% organic fair trade product, lovingly harvested, which we personally developed as the first in the world. Thanks to freeze-drying, the incredible intensity of fresh Kampot pepper is softened, and when consumed, you feel a delicate peppery taste that reminds you of freshly picked berries on the Cambodian coast, but with a much milder intensity. You often ask us how to use it in the kitchen Its playfulness in combinations with various dishes is almost endless! When combined with liquid or oil, the ball reabsorbs moisture and tastes like fresh – it goes perfectly with steaks and any meats, for preparing sauces, in pasta, on meats, or crushed for grilling. It also pleases vegetarians in salads with herbs, in risottos (e.g., asparagus), or you can eat it just like that! It does not belong in a grinder; it is used whole in the kitchen or crushed with a mortar. How long does freeze-dried pepper last? This fresh pepper is sealed in a doypack bag and will last you at least three months without refrigeration. If you plan to keep it longer, we recommend storing it in the fridge. Salt acts as a natural preservative, so you don't have to worry about its quality weakening. The main thing is to understand how freeze-dried Kampot pepper works in the kitchen and that it is fresh pepper, not a dried variant. In practice, this means learning to use its whole balls, or at most their coarsely crushed form, which is ideally incorporated during cooking to absorb liquids inside. Tip for simple tapas: surprise visit at home? If you have quality bread and olive oil, we recommend putting crushed freeze-dried pepper into a small dish with olive oil and dipping the bread in it. In our .pepper..family, this simple tapas inspired by Italy is a great success!