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Catherine's Kitchen

Catherine Manning

ANOTHER TRADITIONAL DISH at Christmas is Pepperpot, adopted from the Guyanese. Never a year went by that my father didn't blow up the pressure cooker making it and what a mess that was, with liquid hitting the twelve-foot ceiling full force. Must admit I've done it on two occasions myself. He didn't have to clean up his mess, but I had to clean up mine, so I learned my lesson, though once it was a faulty valve. Pepperpot is not actually made in a pressure cooker, but it's easier to start it off by pressuring the things that take a long time to boil down, like the cow heels.

Some of the islands make a pepperpot soup, but in the southern Caribbean it's a meat dish and a preservative called casareep, which is made from the cassava plant is used, not only for flavour, but as a preservative.

The Amerindian tribes of the Guyanas were hunters and inhabited the river basins of South America. They would cook their game, whether meat or fowl, with the exception of mutton, in large clay cauldrons which were kept simmering over open fires and replenished by the hunters from time to time. Casareep was added and the pepperpot kept going for a long time; in fact if the hunters moved to another location, the pepperpot moved with them. The best casareep is made in Guyana though you have to be careful as some of the ones sold on the supermarket shelves are not authentic, so I get someone to bring mine straight from the Interior, the real McCoy.

Pepperpot is not the easiest thing to make and if I hadn't had a good teacher, I doubt I would be able to make a good one. Not that I really watched or helped when my father made it, but he would usually get me to taste it and we would decide if it needed more salt, casareep etc. Same thing when I first started to make it, I would call him down to taste and criticize. I make an enormous pepperpot, usually two massive saucepans, which take up the entire stove for a week; so I have two stoves, not only for that reason, but it's often necessary.

The ingredients are chicken, duck, pork, beef, cow heels and cow tail (which produce the glutinous texture needed to prevent it from being a stew), salt and hot peppers. Each person has their own way of making it. Some add garlic and herbs and sugar and leave the meat on the bones, but I don't add the herbs etc. and I remove the bones, as by the time I boil it for a week the meat is off them anyhow.

To get the size pepperpot that I make, I use 20 lbs. each of beef and pork about four chickens, six cow heels and two or three tails, depending on what I can get at the market. Duck is too expensive so I leave that out and generally I throw in about 25 hot peppers in each saucepan, depending on how hot they are and take them out when necessary, if they haven't already disintegrated.

A more simple recipe would be:

Pepperpot

  • 5 lb. stew beef cut into cubes
  • 5 lb. lean pork cut into cubes
  • 1 chicken cut up into parts, excluding the back as that has a lot of small bones.
  • 2 cow heels, cut up
  • 1 cow tail with the skin on, cut up.
  • Hot peppers to taste
  • Casareep, about 2-3 cups
  • Water

Pressure cooking the heels and tail in water to cover for about an hour speeds things up, if you have a pressure cooker. Add heels, tail and liquid to large saucepan, add rest of ingredients and about two cups of the casareep as it's better to add that gradually; too much will make it bitter. Barely cover with water, add salt to taste, bring to boil and simmer over low heat, stirring at regular intervals to prevent burning. Peppers may be added in a muslin bag and taken out when hot enough for your taste. I do this process over a period of 5 to 7 days, boiling up every day until the meat has separated from the bones and is very tender. By this time the casareep will have turned the meat dark brown, but too much casareep should not be added as to turn it black or it will be very bitter. If the pepperpot is boiled well every day, it may be left on the stove; otherwise it should be refrigerated or frozen. There are some pepperpots that have been kept going for 100 years by being replenished regularly.

Pepperpot is traditionally eaten with rice, bread or sweet potatoes.

Told you it was complicated! How about something simple like:

Coconuts.

Plentiful, cheap and versatile, coconuts can be found worldwide. In countries where they are not grown, they are sold either dessicated, grated and frozen or as a husked coconut, which can then be broken open and shelled. The meat is then peeled and grated for use or it can be eaten as is. Unlike a young coconut whose flesh is a jelly, as the coconut gets older the flesh gets hard and can be used in many ways.

Green coconuts yield coconut water high in potassium. Coconut milk, made from the juice of the grated hard coconut, is used in cooking. Coconut oil is made from coconut milk and is a base for cooking, and coconut cream is also made from coconut milk. Copra is a byproduct of coconut and is used to make soap. The dry coconut husk is an integral part of the potting soil used for plants. There are many other uses for the leaves and the shell of the dry coconut is used for fuel and also for craft objects.

Coconut Milk

  • 1 dry coconut
  • water, hot or cold

Extract water from coconut by punching a hole in one of the eyes. I usually use a hammer or solid object to hit the coconut all over which breaks the shell and loosens the flesh. After breaking the coconut into several pieces, use a sharp knife to gently lift the flesh from the shell, being careful not to cut yourself.

Grate flesh or cut up and blend in blender or food processor with water till pureed. Squeeze flesh through strainer to extract milk. The strength and flavour depends on the amount of water added to the coconut. Yields about 1/2 cup.

Coconut Cream

  • 1 pt. thick coconut milk
  • 1 tbs. unflavoured gelatin
  • 1 tin condensed milk
  • 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 pt. water

Sprinkle gelatin in 1/2 cup of coconut milk. When soft, melt on a low flame and add to remaining milk. Sweeten with milk and add salt. Strain and put in dessert dishes. Sprinkle with nutmeg and chill. Decorate and serve.

Coconut Sugar Cakes

  • 1 coconut, grated
  • 4 oz. water
  • 3/4 lb. sugar
  • Colouring optional, one drop is enough, a pale pink is pretty.

Put sugar and water in saucepan, melt and add the coconut and let it boil slowly, stirring to avoid burning. Let it cook till it thickens and looks greasy. Moisten a plate with water, drop by the spoonful and leave to set. Be careful not to overcook or the mixture will dry out and break up.

Coconut Chips

  • 1 dry coconut
  • salt

Peel brown skin from coconut and cut white flesh into strips 1/4" thick. Wash and drain and bake in oven (350F) on a greased sheet till very lightly browned. Sprinkle with salt and serve as you would nuts.

There are many other ways of using coconut, but that's it for today.

Bon Appetit
Cath


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