Pepper pot street sellers in 1811, 1850 Philadelphia; 18th & 19th century recipes

The peppery soup of tripe (stomach lining), meats and vegetables was very popular in Philadelphia.  So popular, that later recipes were labeled "Philadelphia Pepper Pot" in cookbooks not published in Phila.  British recipes for the dish "sort of clear-larder" of seasonal or leftover veggies; meats and even seafood (but no tripe), then highly seasoned with pepper. The Dutch (pepper trade) and Virginia Housewife connection?

Mary Randolph was the first American cookbook author (that I have found thus far) to include tripe - and "a pod of pepper" - in the recipe in her The Virginia Housewife cookbook of 1824.

"Pepper-Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market" 1811 by John Lewis Krimmel (1786 – 1821)

The first effort of this kind which attracted public attention to the young stranger [Krimmel, 1811] was his "Pepper-pot Woman." Pepper-pot is an article of food known no where else in the United States but in Philadelphia - I presume introduced from the West Indies; and though it is, year after year, and day after day, cried in the streets, it is never seen at the house of a citizen by a stranger. 

The pepper-pot woman is ... only known in the streets of Philadelphia.
Dunlap, William.  History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the U.S. 1834

PEPPER-POT! 1850
The Pepper-pot woman [first image of this post] is not quite so noisy now as she was some twenty years since, when her song might be heard at any hour of the evening, in almost any part of the city:—
Pepper-pot is a favourite dish with certain classes; otherwise it could not be sold in such quantities as it certainly is; but we have never yet had the good fortune to meet with any one who would admit that he had actually tasted it.

Persons who are curious in gastronomical science, have assured us that it is a horribly hot mixture of tripe and black pepper, with certain other very pungent spices; and that a single spoonful will excoriate the mouth and throat to such a degree as to take away all power of tasting anything else for a month afterwards.
Perhaps this account is a little overcharged; but it is very certain that all persons who lay claim to a fine taste in cookery, express the greatest horror at being supposed capable of eating this remarkable soup.

Its hot, pungent character probably has the effect of producing thirst; and its thus furnishing an apology for deep potations of strong beer, may possibly account for its popularity in certain quarters.

City Cries [of Philadelphia]… designs by Croome. Phila: 1850

The 'pepper pot,' for which our own fair city of Philadelphia has been so long celebrated, is, in itself, so happy a union of vegetable and flesh; and is, withal, so scientifically besprinkled with that condiment from which the dish obtains its name, and is so gustful a blending of soup and solid as must place it immeasurably, that is, past all taste, above the Scotch hotch potch or Spanish Oila Podrada, or any other dish of which the older nations of the world are wont to make such boast.  Of the powers of pepper-pot, for quickening the intellect to all kinds of curious inquiry, we cannot give a better proof, than simply to state, that it is no unusual thing to see, in our streets, a tin or board, on which, in full round letters, and sometimes, also, in strange chirography, are to be seen this announcement: "Pepper-pot -- Intelligence office."
National Character and Cookery. Journal of Health. Phila: May 1831 

DUTCH PEPPER POT

A very quick history of the scope and prominence of the Netherlands in 16^th and 17^th century trade -  The Dutch pepper trade from the “Spice Islands” of south east Asia began in the late 16^th century, and created the Dutch East India Company to buy and transport pepper and other spices to the west.   The Dutch West India Company was founded which initially included New Amsterdam (NY), Caribbean, South America, and parts of Africa; and included furs, sugar and slaves.

West Indies never-ending pot 1836

There are two species of Cassava, (jatropha manihot,) one sweet, and one poisonous ; the poisonous matter exists in the juice or sap of the root; this is expressed out after the root is crushed and grated ; the liquor is not thrown away, but boiled, which destroys its noxious qualities, and it then becomes a valuable article of trade, forming the chief ingredient in the celebrated Dutch pepper pot : this is a conglomerated savoury dish of different meats and spices; it is brought to table in an iron pot with a ladle, and is thus used as a seasoning for other things. The pepper pot’s glory is, in never being exhausted, fresh additions supplying the continual waste; these additions are not made known: “a little monkey is said to be connected with the true pepper pot principle: and I understand there are Dutch pepper pots in the colony which are never exhausted, having been restored by fresh renewals from the time the colony was established.

Lloyd, William.  Letters from the West Indies, during a visit in the autumn of 1836.  London: 1839

RECIPES - NO TRIPE

A West-India Pepper Pot 1788
TAKE two pounds of lean veal, the same of mutton, cut them small, with a pound of lean ham, put them in a stew-pan, and about four pounds of brisket of beef cut in square pieces, with six onions, two carrots, four heads of cellery, four leeks, two turneps, well washed, a bundle of sweet herbs, some all-spice, cloves, and mace, and half a pint of water; sweat them well for half an hour, then pour four quarts of boiling water into it, and skim it well; boil it gently for three hours, then strain it off, take out the pieces of beef; then put a quarter of a pound of butter in the stew-pan and melt it, put two spoonfuls of flour, and stir it about till it is smooth; then by degrees pour your soup in, and stir it about to keep it from lumping, put the pieces of beef in; have ready two large carrots cut in quarters, and four turneps in quarters, boiled till tender, take the spawn of a large lobster and bruise it fine, and put it in to colour it, with a dozen heads of greens boiled tender; make some flour and water into a paste, and make it in balls as big as a walnut, boil them well in water, and put them in; boil it up gently for fifteen minutes, and season it very hot with Cayan pepper and salt; put it in a soup-dish and send it up hot, garnished with sprigs of cauliflowers round the dish, or carots, or any thing else you fancy.
Briggs, Richard.  The English Art of Cookery. 1788

Pepper Pot
This is now understood to be a sort of clear-larder, Saturday's dinner-dish, composed of all sorts of shreds and patches. It ought properly, if fine cookery is attempted, to be an Olio, composed of a due admixture of meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, and roots. To three quarts of water put a couple of pounds of whatever vegetables are plentiful (a good proportion being onions), and a couple of pounds of mutton-scrag cut into three or four pieces; or a fowl, or veal, or a piece of lean bacon, and a little rice. Skim it; and, when nearly finished, add the meat of a lobster or crab, cut in bits, or the soft art of a few oysters, or hard-boiled yolks of eggs. Take off all the fat that rises, and season highly with pepper and cayenne. Serve in a tureen.
Dods, Margaret.The Cook and Housewife's Manual. Edinburgh: 1829

PHILADEPHIA PEPPER POT - TRIPE

Mary Randolph, a Virginian, traveled (one son was baptized in Newport RI) and Philadelphia was the Capital of the new United States from 1790 to 1800 when her husband had a federal job as US Marshal for Virginia.  Certainly friends or relatives (her brother married Thomas Jefferson's daughter) went to Phila and may have given her the recipe.  More on Randolph HERE
 
Pepper Pot     Randolph   1824
BOIL two or three pounds of tripe, cut it in pieces, and put it on the fire with a knuckle of veal, and a sufficient quantity of water; part of a pod of pepper, a little spice, sweet herbs according to your taste, salt, and some dumplins; stew it till tender, and thicken the gravy with butter and flour.
Randolph, Mary.  The Virginia Housewife.  Washington: 1824


PEPPER POT. Phila. 1840
TAKE four pounds of tripe, and four ox feet. Put them into a large pot with as much water as will cover them, some whole pepper, and a little salt. Hang them over the fire early in the morning. Let them boil slowly, keeping the pot closely covered. When the tripe is quite tender, and the ox feet boiled to pieces, take them out, and skim the liquid and strain it. Then cut the tripe into small pieces; put it back into the pot, and pour the soup or liquor over it. Have ready some sweet herbs chopped fine, some sliced onions, and some sliced potatoes. Make some small dumplings with flour and butter. Season the vegetables well with pepper and salt, and put them into the pot. Have ready a kettle of boiling water, and pour on as much as will keep the ingredients covered while boiling, but take care not to weaken the taste by putting too much water. Add a large piece of butter rolled in flour, and lastly put in the dumplings. Let it boil till all the things are thoroughly done, and then serve it up in the tureen.
Leslie, Eliza.  Directions for Cookery.  Philadelphia: 1840 [1837]


Recipes - no tripe
Miller, Philip. The Gardeners Dictionary. 1759
Mason, Charlotte. The Ladies' Assistant. London: 1787
Briggs, Richard.  The English Art of Cookery. 1788
Farley, John. The London Art of Cookery. London:1784.
Rundell, Maria. A New System of Domestic Cookery. London:1824
Dods, Margaret.The Cook and Housewife's Manual.  Edinburgh: 1829

Recipes - tripe
Randolph, Mary.  The Virginia Housewife.  Washington: 1824
Leslie, Eliza.  Directions for Cookery.  Philadelphia: 1840 [1837] 
Bliss [Mrs. of Boston]. Practical Cook Book. Phila:1850  'Phila Pepper Pot'
Cookery as it should be, Phila: 1856.
Peterson, Hannah. The National Cook Book. Phila:1866
Rorer, Sarah. Philadelphia Cook Book. Phila:1886
Gillette, Mrs. F.L. The White House Cook Book. 1887 'Phila Pepper Pot'
Farmer, Fannie. The Boston Cooking-school Cook Book. 1911 'Phila Pepper Pot'
Thomas, Edith. Mary at the Farm. Norristown, Pa: 1917.

Images - in order
City Cries [of Philadelphia]… designs by Croome. Phila: 1850
Krimmel, 1811 from Philadelphia Museum of Art
Harper's Weekly. April 8, 1876
Cries of Philadelphia.  1810
West Indies: manufacture of manioc or cassava.1667 Lib of Congress
Berryman, William.  Woman beating cassava, Jamaica, 1808  LC

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