Just wasting time/relaxing
It’s Christmas eve. And while the rest of Atlanta is hustling about, making last minute purchases-I have time to sit, drink wine and write a blog post.
Why?
Because I’ve finished all of my tasks ahead of time.
Not to say that I don’t have anything to do today, but I can do it with leisure. While tipsy.
What’s left to do?
1. Bake Bread
2. Vacuum
3. Mop
4. Drink eggnog
Ahhhh…life!! Now on to my Pepperpot recipe.
This is a must have at Christmas in every Guyanese household. I’ve never gone a Christmas without having a bowl of Pepperpot and homemade bread for breakfast. That’s just the way it is, no exceptions.
For those unfamiliar with Pepperpot, I will give a brief lesson on this stew. Pepperpot is the national dish of Guyana, which was originally made by the Amerindians, who used cassareep to preserve meat without using refrigeration. That’s right, this stew can sit out of the fridge as long as you heat it daily. Cassareep, which is the main component of Pepperpot, is a dark syrup that is made from cassava. A variety of meats are stewed with the cassareep, hot pepper and spices such as cinnamon and cloves, the result is a deep, dark, flavorful stew that goes well with bread.
My mom's beautiful bread from last Christmas
The traditional way of serving this would be with Cassava bread, but I like plain ol’ homemade bread. Our Pepperpot is not to be mistaken with the Pepperpot of Jamaica and other Caribbean islands; if it isn’t made with cassareep, it isn’t Guyanese Pepperpot!!
As I leave you today, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.
Guyanese Pepperpot by my mom
2 lb. pork ( with bone), cut into pieces
2 lb stew beef , cut into 2 inch pieces
1 lb. cow foot
1/2 lb salted beef, cut into 2 inch pieces
4 salted pig tail, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup genuine cassava cassereep
1 scotch- bonnet pepper or a few cherry peppers.
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion
I bunch thyme
1 teaspoon of salt, or salt to taste.
3 tbsp sugar
Lime juice or vinegar
4 cloves
2 pieces orange peel
1 stick cinnamon
Trim excess fat off meat and soak in vinegar for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Puree garlic, onion and thyme. Marinate fresh meat with marinade and 1/3 cup of cassareep.
Meanwhile, in a pressure cooker, place pickled pork and salted beef and pressure for a 10. Discard the water and set meat aside.
Wash cow foot thoroughly by soaked in vinegar for about half an hour. Rinse.
Place in pressure cooker and pressure for 20 minutes or until tender. Discard water. *If the cow heel isn’t soft after 20 minutes, continue to pressure in 5 minute intervals , checking for tenderness.
In a stock pot, cook beef and pork in marinade until all liquid evaporates.
Add the cow foot, pickled pork, salted beef, sugar and remaining cassereep with a stick of cinnamon, cloves and orange peel. If the stew is brown, add more casareep to attain and deep, dark color.
Cook slowly until tender. Add pepper and salt to taste.
This meal tastes better the next day, so it is best when made a day ahead.
To serve this meal, warm and serve with bread.
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shauna
Slightly different from my recipe but sounds just as delicious!
Bailey
Drinking wine sounds perfect to me, happy holidays to you = )
Alica
Hi Jehan,
I wanted to wish you Merry Christmas, I hope Santa was good to you this year
Your pepperpot looks delicious! I put up my dads recipe as well on my blog. Its so strange how everyone makes pepperpot differently, but no matter what its a must have on Christmas morning!
Alica
JehanP Post author
Merry Christmas to you too! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well. I just check out you recipe and I didn’t use any orange peel in mine because I forgot to buy lol. And I just realized I forgot to add the clove and orange peel to the recipe…oops lol. Good thing I checked out your blog. I will update my recipe and add cloves and orange peel. I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays.
Loreen Khan
I would loveto have the recipe for the bread. I love the pepper pot.
JehanP Post author
I will have to ask my mom for that bread recipe, but this year I made a challah and it was great with the pepperpot! It was sturdy enough to withstand the pepperpot without falling apart.
Sharon
Why are you discarding the water? That is the best part of the flavor…
Tanya
Is there a recipe for the cassava bread?
JehanP Post author
No I don’t have a cassava bread recipe.
Anita
Can you please Share your recipe for your mom bread, it reminds me of guyana bread.. look so yummy …thank you… Anita:)
May
Hello there Jehan! Thank you so much for this recipe!
My boyfriend is Guyanese and I’ve been trying to surprise him with Pepperpot for a while now. But, he doesn’t eat pork and he just gave up red meat. Pepperpot is his absolute favorite. Is there an alternative meat, like chicken, that I can use instead of red meat?
Thank you so much!
JehanP Post author
Hi May, I’ve never had properly with chicken or heard of it being made that way . I don’t think that it will be remotely close to the traditional .
Bev H
Hello there! I’m late to this party but I’m delighted to find you. I’ve just been sampling my mum’s pepperpot in advance of tomorrow’s Christmas breakfast. I also had my first garlic pork of the season earlier – just to sample it you understand.
Anyway, I showed your recipe to my mum, it is not entirely the same as hers but it meets with hearty approval. Mum even confessed that her own recipe should contain salted pig tail but she can’t always get it.
Enjoy that praise – it doesn’t happen often, but then again a good cook would recognise another.
Happy Christmas!
Alysia
Hi there
I just finish my moms xmas pepperpot promising once again that i will learn to make it myself this year. My son is really on my back about this so I will give you recipe a try this weekend Jehan.
Re: chicken pepperpot..i had this in Guyana this past august. I and a mixed group of guyanese and non-guyanese with particular dietery restrictions visited an ameri-indian village on an island the essiquibo and requested ahead of time that the pepperpot be chicken only. it was nice but i must admit did not taste anywhere near like a traditional pepperpot. it wasn’t bad just different. I think they skimped on the pepper and some spices too cuz it wasn’t so dark or spicy as traditional pepperpot. but they were trying to accomodate our guests so that why i think. It was also served with cassava bread which i’m not a fan of. If you use the traditional spices it should still be good but like Jehan said not quite like the traditional version.
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