Guyanese Pepperpot

Every culture has their own unique traditions, some relate to food while others relate to specific practices or events. Guyana, a relatively small West-Indian country located on the Caribbean coast of South America, offers up a tasty tradition that comes around every December (specifically for Christmas).

Pepperpot has become almost synonymous with Guyanese cooking. If you've never tasted pepperpot, to say you're missing out is putting it mildly. Pepperpot combines slow-cooking methods with comfort food flavors, offering any true foodie the taste of an exquisite 'food-gasm'. Even NPR recognizes that Guyanese pepperpot gives a whole new name to slow-cooking.

Pepperpot is a slow-cooked (sometimes cooking for hours, even days) meat stew (beef, pork, goat, or oxtail) served with plump, buttery rolls or bread. More often than not, these rolls take the place of utensils altogether. Wiping your bowl's final drops of gravy with a buttery roll only adds to the true pepperpot experience.

Many Guyanese serve pepperpot as the first meal on Christmas day while others may eat it throughout the entire month of December. Often, it just remains in a large pot on the stove until the next hungry belly is ready for some good ol' comfort food. The longer the pepperpot sits out, the better it tastes. The flavors marinate and become more robust as each hour passes. Each time it's reheated on the stove, the flavors reboot and explode all over again.

Some may wonder, "Isn't it unsafe to keep food, especially meat, out and unrefrigerated?" Normally, yes. But the Guyanese have discovered a secret weapon: cassareep.

Cassareep is an extremely thick sauce made from cassava root. It is boiled down until it has a molasses-type syrup texture, serving as the key ingredient to pepperpot. Once it gets to this syrup-like state, the antiseptic properties are released, providing powerful medicinal benefits. Surely then, you've got slow-cooking unlike any other!

Remember, the key is to slow-cook the pepperpot over low heat for at least three hours. Ingredients list is below - amounts may vary according to the number of people for which you're cooking. 

• 4 lbs beef (pork, goat, or oxtail can also be used)
• 1-2 cow heels (for gravy thickness)
• 1-2 cups cassareep (can be found at most Caribbean markets)
• 2 medium onions
• 2-4 scotch bonnet peppers (a.k.a habanero peppers); keep whole to get the flavor of the pepper, cut 1 or 2 to get the heat from the pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 cloves
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 8-12 cups of water
• 1 tblsp vegetable oil (can be substituted with coconut or olive oil)
• cinnamon sticks (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat the oil and meat for five minutes, allowing the meat to brown slightly
2. Once the meat has browned a bit, add the remaining ingredients except the water
3. Stir all ingredients so the spices, cassareep, and oil are evenly distributed
4. Add the water and bring everything to a boil
5. Reduce temperature to a simmer and cook for at least three hours
6. After three hours, the gravy will have reduced by about half but all of those wonderful flavors will be bursting out of the pot
7. You may continue to let it simmer, or you can eat it right away
8. Serve with buttery rolls and enjoy!