MEDIEVIAL PEPPER SOUP

INTRODUCTION

In the 15th century the woods of Inpruneta, in the hills near Florence, provided the charcoal used by the pot and earthenware makers of the region and Inpruneta was the place where most of the firing ovens were located. Young apprentices were usually given the task of keeping an eye on the ovens during the night, and peposo was the traditional dish they left to cook overnight so that they could eat it for breakfast.

The name of the dish comes from the large amounts of pepper (pepe) which were added to cover the taste of slightly spoiled meat in medieval times, when no refrigeration was available.

Meat, garlic, tomatoes and water, with liberal quantities of pepper and peppercorns, were put in an earthenware pot which was placed near the mouth of the pottery oven, where the heat was gentle, and were left to cook. Today the dish is slow-cooked much in the same manner on the top of a hob.  The dish, while strongly flavoured, is not as hot as a curry and makes a very good party dish served with spinaci all'aceto balsamico and good bread. Wine to accompany should be red, robust and strong. We recommend a Barbaresco from Piedmont, north west Italy or a good Cote de Beaune from Burgundy, France.  Before starting consider reading Cooking stews.

INGREDIENTS1 Kg (2.2 Lbs) Rump of beef

4 Tablespoons best quality olive oil

3 medium ripe tomatoes

6 large cloves of garlic

water

fine sea salt to taste

1 heaped Tablespoon peppercorns (mixed colours)

1 heaped Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove any excess fat away from the meat and then cut the meat into cubes (about 3 by 2 by 2 cm or 1¼ by ¾ by ¾ inches).

Place the tomatoes in a bowl and add freshly boiled water to cover. After 60 seconds, drain and add cold water to cover. Peel the tomatoes, cut into eights and put to one side.

Coarsely chop the garlic. Put the oil (best quality) in a deep pan, add the garlic and cook over a low fire until golden.

Raise the heat, add the meat to the pan and cook for four to five minutes, stirring to brown the pieces on all sides. Remove any excess oil.

Add the tomatoes and enough water to cover the meat. Add sea salt to taste, all the freshly ground pepper and the peppercorns, (part) cover the pan with the lid, lower the fire to the absolute minimum so the dish simmers very slowly, and then forget it for about 3 hours (or until the meat is tender) except for occasional stirring which should be frequent during the last 15 - 20 minutes. 

The stew should not be liquid nor soggy; if after 3 hours this is still the case, increase the heat to evaporate any excess liquid, but be careful to stir well in order to avoid the stew sticking to the bottom of the pan.