Baies Roses

[mcdowell]

I visited the little island country of Mauritius not long ago and was given, as one of the parting gifts at the event I attended, a collection of island spices and flavors used in the local cuisine (along with way too much vanilla-infused Rum -- but different topic!). I have no problem with the curry blends and the fennel and sugars and such, but...

I have 50g of something called "Baies Roses". Very beautiful pink & red peppercorns. At least they look like peppercorns, but they seem more fragile.

Google is less than useful to me on this one, as most of the hits I've found are in French, and that's a language I don't speak.

So, Gulleteers, what can I do with these things? Are they really peppercorns? And how long will they keep?

I seem to have a lot of them and, not really knowing the shelf-life, I haven't yet broken the seal on the bag. But they're starting to mock me.

[Abra]

It looks like any recipe for pink peppercorns would work fine with these. When I look at French recipes using them it's just as one would use pink pepper, and with a few of the usual notations that they can be toxic in large quantities.

[rarerollingobject]

One of the most memorable chocolates I've ever had was a dark chocolate truffle shot through with Mauritian baies roses. So other than savory applications, I'd suggest something with dark chocolate; or even mixing them into softened vanilla ice cream.

[Catriona]

I like to just nibble on them, as they are...

They're also good as a crust on a steak.