Indonesia has been renowned for its rare spices and exotic flavours since ancient times, many of which are now commonplace in kitchens around the world. Indonesia’s coffee is equally varied, with more than 40 distinct growing regions supplying single-origin beans to global markets. ENDEMIC HORIZON invites you on a journey back to the wild roots of Indonesian spice, exploring a modern fusion of flavours found nowhere else on earth.

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FERMENTATION: A LIVING HERITAGE OF PRESERVING FLAVOUR

With deep roots in almost every corner of the archipelago, fermentation is one of the oldest known methods of preservation, and ideally suited to tropical climates where heat and humidity can quickly spoil food. Experts in this ancient biotechnology had established a wide range of indigenous fermentation techniques long before coffee first arrived in the region, from banana leaf wraps to salt-drying under the tropical sun.

Using our innovative ‘double fermentation’ process to unlock the complex flavour of our coffee, and then to infuse key flavour profiles from two endemic spices, ENDEMIC HORIZON is proud to update, upgrade, and most importantly appreciate one of Indonesia’s living culinary traditions.

And our fermented creations are very much alive. Cultivated continuously on a carefully balanced diet of sugars, these living tonics bring a little of Indonesia’s world famous diversity to your very own microbiome. Probiotic cultures exclusive to natural fermentation techniques like ours can bring a whole range of health benefits, from boosting your body’s natural immunity to modulating blood sugar, regulating our digestive system and even reducing the risk of heart disease.

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BANDA PALA: THE FRUIT THAT MADE THE MODERN WORLD

Known as ‘nutmeg’ in English, but ‘pala’ in the islands where it was first cultivated, everything about this legendary fruit is fascinating. From the striking appearance of its brilliant golden flesh and the bright red and black lattice of its seeds, which only becomes visible as the fruit ripens, to the distinctive flavour profile and the truly astonishing history of its journey around the world, pala is the very definition of exotic.

Originating from the isolated Banda Archipelago, a cluster of 11 tiny islands adrift in Eastern Indonesia’s vast maritime interior, the original home of nutmeg cultivation was once considered such vital information that entire mythologies were crafted to obscure it, and fleets of ships could be launched at the mere rumour that it had been found. First brought to global attention by early Chinese and Arab traders, it was nutmeg, more than any other spice, which drew European empires to the islands of Southeast Asia. The Dutch were the ones who managed to secure a monopoly on the nutmeg trade, conquering and then enslaving locals to work the plantations, and beginning a process of colonisation that would last almost 400 years. Even today the tiny Banda Islands are dotted with imposing ruins of colonial fortresses, all constructed to keep nutmeg under their control.

At the height of the spice trade, nutmeg was worth considerably more than its weight in gold, and a chartered voyage to the spice islands could expect returns of between 30,000-60,000%. The demand for these expeditions was insatiable, and with profit essentially guaranteed, a new way of doing business was born. Investors in the Dutch East India company were paid a regular dividend, instead of taking their money out when a ship returned home, a right which they could buy and sell freely on what would soon become the world’s very first ‘stock market.’

The value of these ‘stocks’ in the Dutch East India Company helped make it the largest corporate entity ever to exist, with a market value greater than today’s top 20 largest competitors combined, including Apple, Microsoft, and ExxonMobil, and gave rise to the financial markets which dominate so much of our modern economy. Ironically, the last of the Banda Islands to fall to the Dutch, the tiny outlying island of Rhun, was exchanged via treaty with the British for another apparently unimportant piece of land – the Island of Manhattan in the American territories, where the world’s largest global stock exchange now stands.

From its origins in complete isolation to its meteoric global rise, nutmeg has become so familiar in our kitchens that it might sometimes seem a bit ordinary. When it comes down to the simple matter of taste, however, simultaneously aromatic and warm, with notes of citrus, clove, and a little something that you can’t quite put your finger on, no one can be in any doubt that pala really is a spice like no other.

JAVA CABYA: THE SPICE ISLANDS’ LOST LEGACY

 ndonesians love their food spicy, but chilis were a relatively late arrival to the archipelago, first introduced by Portuguese traders only a few hundred years ago. Before that, culinary creations were given some heat by a spice which is almost unheard of today, but which once had a special place in ancient Rome’s favourite recipes; cabya. Known as ‘Javanese long pepper,’ this relative of our more familiar black and white pepper has the same earthy undertones to its characteristic heat, but with a more complex and aromatic flavour profile.

Endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands of Java and Bali, cultivation of this pepper was the primary source of income for the Sultanate of Banten, a historical kingdom in Western Java where the first permanent Dutch trading post was established in the 17th century. This trading post would one day grow into the sprawling metropolis of Jakarta, where the early port of Sunda Kelapa and its world-famous spice trading docks can still be seen today.

More difficult and time-consuming to cultivate than the more familiar chili pepper, it wasn’t long before vast quantities of cabya long pepper were being exchanged with local farmers for many times their weight in chilis from the New World. The Europeans, who valued the long pepper’s longevity in storage and high market price, were more than happy to keep making such deals, and the cultivation of Java’s native pepper almost entirely disappeared, crops harvested and sold faster than they could be regrown. Eventually the global market demand for long pepper was overtaken by other varieties, and with chilis having taken over the culinary landscape of Indonesia, cabya faded into obscurity.

Today Javanese long pepper survives mainly as an ingredient in traditional herbal tonics, harnessing the spice’s extraordinary medicinal potential. Known to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and antidiabetic properties, contemporary research points to benefits in regulating digestive processes, fighting cancer, and promoting overall cardiovascular health. This spicy superfood is beginning to regain some attention from global food enthusiasts, and yet remains almost unknown even in its native homeland. A truly unique flavour, largely forgotten by history.