Book of Days Tales

Today is Independence Day in Antigua and Barbuda, an island nation in the Leeward chain bordering the Caribbean and the Atlantic. Antigua was first settled by archaic foragers called the Siboney or Ciboney. Carbon dating has established that the earliest settlements started around 3100 BCE. They were succeeded by the Ceramic Age pre-Columbian Arawak-speaking Saladoid people who migrated from the lower Orinoco River in mainland South America. The Arawaks introduced agriculture, raising, among other crops, the famous Antigua black pineapple, maize, sweet potatoes (white with firmer flesh than the bright orange sweet potato found in the United States), chiles, guava, tobacco, and cotton.

The islands were colonized in the 17th century by the British who introduced slavery there to provide labor for the sugar cane plantations. The slaves were emancipated in 1834, but, as in the rest of the Americas, the former slaves contributed to a significant change in the ethnic profile of the islands. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent nation on this date in 1981 although the nation still recognizes the British monarch as the nominal head of state.

Pepper pot is found throughout the Caribbean islands, and, like most such recipes, is more or less cook’s choice. I like to use Scotch bonnet peppers if I can find them, and I use a healthy amount, as do islanders. Pepper pot is typically served with fungie (similar to polenta).

Ingredients

¾ lb pork, cubed
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 lbs spinach
10 okra pods
4 cups beef broth
1 hot pepper (or more), chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsps fresh thyme
1 tbsp cooking oil

Instructions:

Heat the oil over high heat in a heavy pot and brown the pork and onions.

Add the broth, bring to a boil and simmer for one hour.

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer one hour more.