Pfefferpotthast () is a traditional German stew. It comes from the cuisine of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

Preparation

In a traditional Pfefferpotthast, beef seared in

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the o ...

and sautéed

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

are simmered with spices such as

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

and

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, s ...

until they fall apart. It is seasoned with pepper and sometimes

capers ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...

and lemon juice. Pfefferpotthast is thickened with

pumpernickel Pumpernickel (; ) is a typically heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with sourdough starter and coarsely ground rye. It is sometimes made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye grains ("rye berries"). At one time it was ...

bread crumbs instead of flour to make a stew. In the summer, it is served with

boiled potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unite ...

and salad. In the winter, it is served with

pickled cucumbers A pickled cucumber (commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been Pickling, pickled in a Brine (f ...

and

beetroot The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...

History and customs

The dish was first mentioned in a story on Agnes von der Vierbecke written in 1378 in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

. The name is a combination of the German words for "pepper," "pot," and "boiled meat." The significance of the word "pfeffer" is not clear. It could be an indication that it is seasoned with pepper, but it is more likely that it indicates any heavily seasoned broth or dish. In some cities, it is customary to serve this dish in

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

. In Dortmund, the ''Pfefferpotthastfest'' is celebrated annually in autumn in Alter Markt (). In Westhofen, the Pfefferpotthast is a characteristic part of ''Sup Peiter'', the day that marks the end of winter.

References

{{Reflist Westphalian cuisine German cuisine German beef dishes Dortmund Culture in Dortmund