About this Dish
Guyana's national dish — a dark, rich meat stew made with cassareep (a bitter cassava extract) that acts as both flavouring and preservative. The stew can theoretically be kept indefinitely by boiling daily and adding fresh meat. Some Guyanese families have pepperpot pots that are decades old. Eaten at Christmas with bread.
IngredientsServes 6
🥩Beef short ribs or oxtail, 1kg cut into large pieces
🐷Pork trotters or pork belly, 500g cut into chunks
🍶Cassareep, 120ml (find at Caribbean grocery stores)
🌶️Whole wiri wiri peppers or scotch bonnets, 3-4 left whole
🧅Brown onion, 1 large roughly chopped
🧄Garlic cloves, 5 smashed
🌿Fresh thyme, 6 sprigs
🍋Orange peel, 2 wide strips
🫙Brown sugar, 2 tablespoons
🧂Salt and whole cloves, 1 teaspoon salt and 4 cloves
Method
1
Season the meat generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, brown the meat in batches over high heat until deeply caramelised on all sides — this builds the flavour base, so don't rush it.2
Add the onion, garlic, thyme, orange peel, and whole cloves to the pot with all the browned meat. Pour in enough water to just cover the meat, roughly 1 to 1.5 litres.3
Stir in the cassareep and brown sugar. The cassareep will turn the stew a deep, dark brown — this is exactly what you want. Add the whole peppers but do not burst them unless you want serious heat.4
Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover. Cook for 2.5 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is completely tender and falling off the bone and the sauce has thickened to a rich, glossy gravy.5
Taste and adjust with a little more cassareep for bitterness, sugar for balance, or salt as needed. The flavour should be complex — dark, slightly bitter, sweet, and warming all at once.6
Remove the whole peppers, orange peel, and thyme stalks before serving. Serve hot with thick slices of white bread or hops bread for dipping into the sauce, as is traditional at a Guyanese Christmas morning table.User Reviews
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