I have wanted to write up this post for months, but, as I mentioned in my last blog post: my great ideas were derailed. Well, now is better than never!
A grand adventure in search of nostalgia!
I grew up in Ontario and had the opportunity to visit my grandparents out in Alberta every few years for Christmas. Those years, Christmas was filled with delightful memories of family, fun, and food! We would spend part of the visit with my maternal grandpa, enjoying delicious European foods, and part of the visit at my paternal grandparents’ house enjoying family recipes from their homeland of Guayana, South America. My grandparents came to Canada when my father was 10, and brought with them long-held family traditions, including our very own pepperpot recipe. This year, I finally asked my grandparents for the recipe to make it over Christmas! Now, I am not actually giving you guys the recipe, but sharing the absolute adventure I had… of making pepperpot with celiac disease.
Pepperpot, a dish for special occasions!
For those who aren’t familiar with it, pepperpot is actually the national dish of Guayana and is commonly served for breakfast at special occasions like Christmas. While you can now buy “pepperpot” sauce from President’s Choice Brand, my grandparents heavily stressed: … that… is…. not… pepperpot. Why? Because every true pepperpot recipe contains one special ingredient: Cassareep. Cassareep is a delicious extract sourced from cassava, used in Guayanese and other South American cooking. Herein lies the heart of this food adventure. I learned the hard way that Cassareep, at least all the ones imported to Canada…. ALWAYS HAS WHEAT!
What to do?
I… doing the very best research I could, through the help of one of my best friends… erroneously attempted to MAKE my own Cassareep. Now, I learned AFTER making the sauce, that Cassareep needs to be made with bitter cassava… which… is not imported in Canada due to the high arsenic levels (which… in part are what give Cassareep the distinct flavor as the arsenic is cooked off). Did I know this? No… of course not. Thankfully, I researched this before cooking the meats, because they are stewed over the course of 3 days.
Cooking process:
Instead of leaving the stew on the stovetop like you can with real cassareep (it has preservative qualities from the cassareep), I stewed it over many hours, let it cool, and stored it in the fridge overnight. This process was repeated over 3 days leading up to Christmas.
How it turned out?
While it was not exactly true to our family’s recipe because of my own dietary restrictions, my goodness was this ever a delicious meal to have for breakfast on Christmas morning! The flavors were nostalgic despite the missing Cassareep and were honestly fairly close because of my attempt that turned into a kind of cassava sauce. The meal was shared with my in-laws and I was so happy to share such an important part of my childhood with them, but more importantly: with my son. It filled me with joy that he enjoyed the meal. It meant so much that I was able to share this special tradition with another generation!
All in all, I would say that the recipe failed successfully! It may not be the family recipe to the T, but it was the closest I could do, and look forward to making it again next year.
