Olla capsicorum
Haec pars progressura est. Olla capsicorum (Anglice pepper-pot) est ferculum in insulis Caribaeis et Guiana saepe inlatum. Idem fere ferculum Philadelphiae sub specie cibi viarii saeculo XIX ineunte venditabatur. Verbis satyricis Eduardus Ward anno fere 1698 rettulit: They make a rare soop they call pepper-pot: it's an excellent breakfast for a salamander ... Three spoonfuls so inflam'd my mouth, that had I devour'd a peck of horse-radish ... I could not have been more importunate for a drop of water to coole my tongue. Anno 1849 Georgius Ruxton, qui iter maritimum in Mexicum per insulam Barbatam faciebat, ollam capsicorum gustavit, a delicious compound of flesh, fish and fowl, piqué with all the hot peppers and condiments the island produces, and mystified in a rich black sauce, sed anno 1873 Carolus Rampini, Chapelton in oppido Iamaicae morans, ferculum curiosius descripsit: For here was I not introduced to 'pepper-pot' and mountain mullet? Not the Demerara pepper-pot with its evil-smelling and still more evil-tasting cassareep sauce and its hereditary pipkin, but a rich, succulent potage, a very Meg merrilees broth of pork and beef and fowl, ochroes and calaloo (the West Indian spinach), peppers, crayfish and negro yam; in colour a drak green, with the scarlet prawns appearing through the chaotic mass not unpicturesquely ... With the negroes, pepper-pot is a compound of the most heterogeneous description. Prawns or crayfish of some kind are de rigueur, but bamboo tops, cotton-tree tips, cabbage, pimpernel, pulse, and even the buds of the night-blowing cereus, occasionally find a place in the concoction ... Peppers and annatto were not stinted. The colouring was brilliant and the pungency intense. Praeceptum breve anno 1913 datum est: Get an earthen vessel. To every quart of water add three tablespoonsful of pure cassareep with salt to taste and a handful of bird peppers, or some cayenne pepper. It should be warmed evey day and something should be added each day.