This being the month of Christmas, a holiday celebrated among 160 of the 195 countries that make up this planet, I’ve decided to do a monthly installment of how different countries around the world celebrate this special holiday in their kitchens and feature their signature holiday meals. Some may be sides, some may be mains, maybe a dessert or two, some may be a complete dinner. Only time will tell by which country my girls have randomly pulled out of Santa’s hat.
When making this dish, several times a specific song ran through my head, and I may have even sung a certain line out loud once-or-twice (or more), as I stirred this lovely dark stew. The aroma coming from the pot was incredible and seasonably apropos with hints of cinnamon and citrus. The flavor is one I’ve never really had before. It has two layers of sweetness: a light, high sugary sweetness which comes from brown sugar and a nice, smooth, back-of-the tongue, low sweetness from the molasses (which I employed in place of Cassareep), all counterbalanced with a smooth, subtle, and steady heat from one lone pepper. All-in-all, I summed this dish up as “sweet heat.” So, what is it? Although there are different versions you can make with different cuts of meat, I went with chuck roast and it is essentially a beef stew, but definitely not a European-style stew that I’ve been accustomed to my whole life.
Here’s a little history, you can read about further, as you slowly simmer this delicious stew. While it shares a claim-to-fame with Philadelphia, this is one of Guyana’s National Dishes, but ultimately originates from West Africa. So, how did this piece of cooking culture get from West Africa to Philadelphia, via South America? The Middle Passage. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either until I read “Notes from a Young Black Chef” earlier this year, as part of a feature on Chef Kwame Onwuachi. It was awesome to have the year wrapped up in such a serendipitous and impactful way. Everyone loved this dish and it will be entering our regular winter rotation so we may enjoy this for years to come.
Guyanese Pepperpot
While the recipes I found all called for cassareep and a wiri wiri pepper, I couldn’t obtain them locally. However, I offer suitable substitutes for both below.
~4 lbs of beef chuck roast
2 medium yellow onions, medium dice
Hungarian wax pepper, rough chopped (keep/use the seeds in the dish)
4 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1 cup Molasses
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup light brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
Rind from half of an orange
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs basil
Dry the beef and chop into rough 1” chunks, trimming away any sinew. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Add a tablespoon of oil to a large dutch oven and preheat over medium-high heat. Add all of the beef to the pot and lightly brown, stirring occasionally.
Once you can no longer see any trace of uncooked meat, add in the onions, wax pepper, and garlic, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Then, stir in the molasses, soy and Worcestershire sauces, and brown sugar, along with 1.5 tsp of table salt.
Stir in the remaining ingredients and pour in 10 cups of water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 1 hour.
After an hour, stir the pot contents, and increase the heat to medium and cook for another 2 hours with the pot lid cracked, maintaining a steady simmer. Closely monitor the heat and liquid during the last hour, adjusting the heat as necessary.
The stew is done when there is about 2 inches of thickened stew juices remaining and the meat is fork tender. Serve in a shallow bowl. ______________________________
Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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