Philadelphia's Pepperpot Performance Honors Black Women's Culinary Legacy

A new performance celebrating the history of pepperpot soup and the Black women who sold it in 18th-century Philadelphia will debut this weekend. Titled Pepperpot, the event blends music, storytelling, and visual art for a single showing at Cherry Street Pier. It forms part of the What Now: 2026 festival organised by ArtPhilly.

The show draws inspiration from the lives of free Black women who cooked and sold the hearty, spiced soup on streets and in taverns. Their legacy is preserved in art, literature, and now a modern jazz-infused suite of songs.

Pepperpot soup was a staple in early Philadelphia, prepared with leafy greens, root vegetables, and affordable cuts of meat, all richly seasoned with Caribbean spices. Free Black women were its primary vendors, selling bowls to a diverse crowd. Their work was captured in John Lewis Krimmel’s 1811 painting Pepper-Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market, which depicts a woman serving soup to a multi-generational gathering.

The peddlers’ calls and songs were documented in the 1810 book *Cries of Philadelphia*. These cries have now inspired composer Kendrah Butler-Waters to create a suite of original jazz-infused tracks. The performance will also include spoken word poetry, storytelling, and visual art by fiber artist Asake-Denise Jones, who designed aprons illustrating the women’s stories. Chef Valerie Erwin will prepare pepperpot soup for attendees, tying the event back to its culinary roots. The one-time performance takes place on Saturday at Cherry Street Pier as part of the *What Now: 2026* festival.

The Pepperpot performance will honour the contributions of Black women in Philadelphia’s food history. Through music, art, and food, it revives a tradition that once thrived in the city’s markets. The event offers a chance to experience a piece of cultural heritage that has shaped local identity.