Artisan crackers made with stone-ground wheat flour, extra virgin olive oil and beetroot, spiced with white pepper, Sichuan red berries and a West African spice blend. Aromatic rather than hot. Vegan. 130 g.
Sichuan pepper is not a pepper
The most interesting thing in these crackers is the one people know least about. Sichuan pepper is not related to black pepper at all — it is the dried husk of a berry from the Zanthoxylum tree, which is in the citrus family, and if you smell it closely you can find the lemon peel behind the spice.
It also does something no other spice does. The compound responsible, hydroxy-alpha-sanshool, does not taste of heat: it produces a distinct tingling numbness on the lips and tongue, a fizzing sensation that fades over a minute or two. In Chinese it is má, numbing, treated as a separate category from là, hot. Researchers have shown it activates touch receptors at around 50 hertz — your lips genuinely feel a vibration that is not there.
There is a modest amount here and the effect is gentle, but it is worth knowing what it is rather than wondering whether something is wrong.
A note if you are allergic to citrus
Because Zanthoxylum is in the citrus family, people with a citrus allergy occasionally react to Sichuan pepper. It is uncommon, and worth knowing.
The beetroot
Beetroot gives the crackers their colour and a faint earthy sweetness that sits well against the spice. It is a vegetable, not a colouring — which is why the shade varies from batch to batch.
Contains wheat — not gluten-free
Made from wheat flour. Listings for this product commonly carry "gluten free" in stray keyword text; that is simply wrong. No Lady Joseph cracker is suitable for coeliacs.
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