On December 29, 1777, so the tale goes, General George Washington and his Continental Army, in the midst of fighting the Revolutionary War, had to make camp in the extremely cold, hard winter at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. They were very low on food and the local farmers had none to sell them since they’d already sold their supplies to the British Red Coats for cold, hard cash. The weaker currency of the Continental Army was worth just so much toilet paper, in the farmers’ opinions. So, the General asked his baker, Christopher Ludwick, to gather whatever he could to feed the troops and boost their morale. Hence, Christopher combined scraps of tripe, meat and peppercorns, and other seasonings, mixed it all up, and created the thick, hot spicy soup known as Pepper Pot. From that day forward it became known as “the soup that won the war.” And so was the creation of today’s holiday: Pepper Pot Day! While you prepare your own version of this historic culinary delight, we’ll celebrate with a moment from 2000’s film THE PATRIOT with Heath Ledger, an actor who left us at a very young age, as did so many of the Minute Men who fought for our freedom to become The United States of America.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 18:08:27 +0000