Alas, Campbell's Pepper Pot Soup is No More

It went out of production a while ago, before I could buy up a couple of cases.  Darn!  I don't even have examples to taste-test against, unless there are a few cans squirreled away in the pantry elsewhere.

I have my grandmother's Joy of Cooking from 1943, and happily, it had a recipe.  I haven't made it yet, so I can't really compare.  I've messed with the recipe a little.

I knew it contained tripe -- an organ meat not much seen now.  I consulted the Cook's Thesaurus about tripe:

Tripe is the name given to the stomachs of various animals, but most recipes that call for it intend for you to use beef tripe.  Cows have four stomachs, and the first three yield merchantable tripe. 

• Blanket tripe = plain tripe = flat tripe = smooth tripe comes from the first stomach,
• Honeycomb tripe (pictured at left) and pocket tripe from the second, and
• book tripe = bible tripe = leaf tripe from the third. 
• Honeycomb tripe is meatier and more tender than the other kinds and considered to be the best, but all these kinds of tripe can be used interchangeably in recipes.  Tripe is almost always sold bleached and partially cooked.  This saves a lot of work, since unprocessed tripe would need to be cooked for many, many hours to make it tender enough to chew. 

Irma S. Rombauer's Pepper Pot Soup

Stock

• 6 cups of chicken or veal stock. You can make your own (I like Alton Brown's recipe) or use a boxed product.

Soup--ingredients

• 1/4 pound bacon (streaky rashers), thick cut, or 4 slices.
• 1/4 pound Canadian bacon or 2 slices (back bacon or cured smoked pork loins)
• 1/2 onion, minced, about 1/3 cup
• 3 ribs celery, minced, about 1/2 cup
• 2 green peppers, seeded and minced
• 3/4 pound honeycomb tripe, washed and shredded
• 1 lb of a waxy low-starch potato variety such as Superior, Kennebec, Red Bliss, peeled and diced to make 1 cup
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour

Method:

• Use: a heavy 3-quart plus saucepan
• Cut the bacon (streaky rashers) into small pieces
• Saute until brown
• Cut the bacon (Canadian or back bacon) in to small pieces, reserve
• To the browned bacon, add the minced onion, celery, and peppers, and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add the Canadian/back bacon and return to simmer
• Add the shredded honeycomb tripe, the soup stock, and the bay leaf
• Bring mixture to the boil
• Add the potatoes
• Cover and reduce heat to simmer; cook for at least 60 minutes.
• To thicken the broth: at the end of the cooking time, melt the butter in a saute pan and add the flour.  Cook without browning for at least 3 minutes.  Still over heat,  dribble in about 1/4 cup of  soup broth, whisking all the while, until mixture is smooth and bubbles.  Return mixture to soup pot, stir, and serve.

Update: Huzzah! I found an ingredients list for Campbell's Pepper Pot Soup

Ingredients
Beef Tripe Stock, Water, Cooked Beef Tripe, Beef Stock, Potatoes, Enriched Macaroni Product (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Carrots, Bleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Tomato Paste, Contains less than 2% of

Here's another recipe from Road Food

Ort. Carlton's Pepper Pot Soup

Here's a old fashioned Pepperpot Soup recipe for anyone who wants to try it... In my family--and my great grandmother was the queen of pepper pot--cognoscenti insisted on a sprinkle of cider vinegar at the table. Serve hot as a slender meal to 4 people.

Ingredients -- Soup

• 2 quarts water
•  veal or beef bone
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 dry whole red chili pepper
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 whole onions
• 2 pounds honeycomb tripe, well washed (can also blanch)
•  4 potatoes, diced
• 1 teaspoon marjoram

Ingredients -- dumplings

• 1 1/2 tablespoons lard (better) or butter (good)
• 1 cup flour + extra for flouring hands
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

Method--Soup

• Bring water, bay leaves, chili pepper, and salt to a boil.
• Add the tripe, then immediately reduce heat. Simmer for at least 2 and 1/2 hours.
• Remove the veal bone, bay leaves, pepper, and onion.
• Take out the tripe, then slice into paper thin strips and mince crosswise.
•  Skim the fat off the top of the stock and return the tripe to the pot with the diced potatoes.
• Thin with boiling water so it's nicely soupy. Allow to simmer until you're ready to serve--hours, if possible, as you want the tripe to be as tender as possible.
• When ready to serve, rub the marjoram into the pot between the heels of your hands. Bring soup to a good simmer,
• Drop in dumplings and cook until they are done. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately with a cruet of cider vinegar on the table for final flavoring. 

Method--dumplings

• Mix flour, baking powder and salt with a fork or whisk
• Using a pastry knife or two knives, cut butter/lard into flour mixture
• When well mixed, gradually stir in mil
• Flour your hands, and roll dough into small balls.

Menudo is a popular Mexican soup, also based on tripe.  I tried a couple of canned menudo soups, but as much as I like hominy, it just wasn't the same.  And the tripe pieces were too big.  One of the commenters at Mombu the Cuisine Forum suggested adapting Rosie's Menudo recipe:

Whomever "Susan" was (the person who was interested in finding the Campbell's Pepper Pot soup clone recipe) can just adapt the "Rosie's Menudo" recipe posted on the newsgroup here on January 5, 2002 just by replacing the can of Hominy found in the recipe with finely cubed potato and carrot chunks plus orzo noodles like found in the Campbell's soup.

Tastes exactly the same as the Campbell's P.P. soup to me.

I think the commenter is mistaken -- unlikely that it had orzo, more likely barley.  Most menudo recipes are much heavier on the tripe than Pepper Pot was.  I don't think I'm going in that direction. 

as always, click to embiggen

Comments

[Springingtiger]

Campbells Cream of Sweetcorn Condensed Soup has disappeared over here, I have one can I am hoarding for when I am really desperate!There are some soups which may not be home-made but they are very special.

[Soup]

This is a wonderful recipe. Sounds healthy and i wanna try this right away.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSTQDVc0tc This seems to be my kinda dish. The ingredients and the dumplings used are the tempting factors here.

[No Blarney]

They say that as one window closes, another on opens. . .Campbells has indeed discontinued their Pepper Pot, but Bookbinder's is bringing their Seafood Pepper Pot soup back to regional grocery stores. Their version is made with seafood (primarily cod) instead of tripe (cows tongue) but should be an excellent option. I understand it is suppose to be available in late July or early August from Bookbinder Specialties in PA.

[Rob]

Tripe is most definitely not tongue.

[A.M.Porfilio]

I Live in Utah, and couldn't find "Pepper Pot" soup, so I went to my home state of Pennsylvania, to my home town. My wife and I went into (in total of both states) 110 supermarkets, trying to find this soup!
My Father fixed for me, as a special supper treat, from 1955-64. I loved Pepper Pot soup so much, I even had a case sent to me, when I was in the U.S.Navy, and on my 25th Birthday.
It's nothing like Menudo, ( a Mexican Tripe dish), it was accepted By the Italian neighborhood, I was raised in.
In College, I fixed Pepper Pot soup a lot for my dates. It's a shame, you discontinued this, it became pricey at 1.25 a can, (1990) but well worth it!