A Taste of Caribbean: Various Versions of Pepperpot

Simon Abrams - Pepperpot

Pepperpot is also called a soup, though the kitchen-made version is certainly more stewy than soupy. The soup version is found in cans and was an element in Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell’s soup can painting. In true form it is a popular Caribbean meal and the national dish of Guyana. The name comes via the fiery Scotch bonnet pepper. As you may know, Scotch bonnet has about ten times the whack of the more popular Jalepeno. 

   Let’s start with a modified version of the Guyana recipe suited to US grocery shopping. It is not quick and easy but rather an involved version and takes up to four hours to concoct.

   Another possibility is a very simple Guyanese version featuring goat as well as beef, seeming almost a barbecue. Very nicely illustrated.

 
There are some recipes that just seem a beef stew heavily peppered. I found this recipe while searching for a simpler version. This one seems more typically Caribbean.

   How about a recipe featuring collard greens? Some, such as the previously mentioned Guyana recipe, use spinach. This one is reportedly typical of Philadelphia. Some say Pepperpot was created locally to feed George Washington’s starving army, but there is little doubt it originated in Guyana. 

   In colonial times there was a lot of trade between Philadelphia and the Caribbean, so the dish could easily have followed that path.

   James Beard mentions a Pepperpot heavy on tripe (four pounds) that seems more reflective of English or European tastes. For some reason he points out that the dish was thought to be Dutch, though somehow he decided it is likely French or English. Beard is the food god to many chefs so his theories are repeated elsewhere.

   My copy of Barbados Cookbook, 6^th edition, published to aid the Barbados Military Cemetery Association, gives a recipe that must certainly be genuine down-home Pepperpot. It calls for four pounds of beef, four pounds of pork, one old duck, one old chicken, one whole cow tail, fresh with skin left on, one quarter cow heel and 12 Scotch bonnet peppers (whew! Call the fire department). It doesn’t seem quite suited to modern tastes and so I won’t quote further.

   It is said there are as many recipes as there are chefs making Pepperpot. From the variety of alternate ingredients that seems quite possible. I have noted pumpkin, squash, eggplant, okra, lemon, bananas, plantain, broccoli, coconut, shrimp and other seafoods, hard boiled eggs, bacon, and the aforementioned tripe (US and UK more than Caribbean). And it has been suggested to start with a roux. The dish may be served over rice.

   Caribbean recipes often mention Casareep, a preservative used to make the dish last a long time. It is the juice of the Casava plant and can be found on Amazon if not at your local grocer. Legend has it one pepperpot lasted a century thanks to the addition of Casareep.