Having been nicknamed as “the soup that won the war,” Pepper Pot has its very own day. National Pepper Pot Day is observed annually on December 29th.
The winter of 1777 – 1778 was brutal. The Continental Army was fighting for the newly formed country of the United States of America during the Revolutionary War. As they were camped at Valley Forge on December 29th, 1777, George Washington asked the army’s chef to prepare a meal that would boost their morale and warm them. The chef rounded up some peppercorn, small bits of meat, tripe and other ingredients and called it Pepper Pot Soup, also known as Philadelphia Pepper Pot Soup.
What is Pepper Pot? Well, it’s a soup that contains twelve different ingredients. The ingredients are four cups of water, four tablespoons of chicken bouillon powder, two medium grated potatoes, two medium sized carrots which are also grated, two finely chopped celery stalks, one finely chopped onion, one and a half cups of finely chopped green, red, or yellow peppers, one half cup of all-purpose flour, two teaspoons of salt, one teaspoon of pepper, one more cup of water, and finally, six cups of milk.
The meal was well received, and it was nicknamed “the soup that won the war.”
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