A native shrub from Tasmania, pepperberry (also known as Tasmanian pepperberry or mountain pepper) is an incredibly versatile ingredient, partly because both the berries and the leaves are edible.

“There are female and male pepperberry plants, and they have to be planted together,” Bero says. “The female plants have the berries and the male plants have those beautiful leaves you can use.”

Because pepperberries sit on the berry side a lot more than conventional pepper, this ingredient works well in both sweet and savoury dishes. 

“You get a full-on clove-iness, as well as Sichuan pepper vibes, but the heat doesn’t linger as long,” Bero says. 

Related story: 5 recipes from Mabu Mabu that celebrate native ingredients

If you’re after more heat, you can also use the leaves to add extra spice to your dishes. 

“The leaves are even spicier than the berries,” Bero says. “You can grind them down or you can use them like curry leaves or bay leaves when you’re making a stew or curry.”

For a sweet treat, Nornie recommends adding ground pepperberries to a carrot cake or fruit cake. “Or, if you want to warm up your chai tea at home, pop a bit of pepperberry in there, and it’ll give you a lovely spiciness,” she says. 

Eaten fresh, the berries are sweet and pungent (and contain approximately three times the antioxidants of blueberries). When pickling vegetables, you can add fresh pepperberries to vinegar and you’ll get a lovely pink colour to the ferment. Or, you can use ground pepperberry as a natural food colour, to give dishes a gentle purple hue.  

Pepperberry pairs particularly well with tart fruit like plums. “Plums and pepperberry are a match made in heaven,” Bero says. “Plums are not super sweet, and their tartness is enhanced when you add pepperberry.” 

For cooks wanting to supercharge their use of native ingredients, Bero recommends pairing pepperberry with Davidson or Illawarra plums. 

To experience the perfect match of plum and pepperberry for yourself, try the recipe for pork cotoletta with plum, pepperberry & ginger chutney in season 2 of Make it delicious. – Flavours of Australia. Find all the episodes at delicious.com.au/makeitdelicious.