Every time I prepare beef soup I am flooded with childhood memories of growing up in Sheffield, Jamaica. Memories of me trekking to the butcher shop(s) on Friday afternoon to buy meats, including soup bones for Saturday soup. In our small town that meant 3 stops. There was Miss Ellen’s slaughterhouse for tripe and cow skin. Mas Cornie’s (everyone in the islands has an alternate name) butcher shop for pork. And my personal favorite Mas Andrew’s shop for beef. Once the meat and other groceries were secured it was time to head home.
On most Saturday afternoons you could find my cousins and me under the big pear (avocado) tree in our yard waiting on the beef soup to finish. Pumpkin Beef Soup or beef soup as most Jamaicans call it is an enduring favorite for many islanders. It is a symbol of independence for Haitians. As its name implies pumpkin beef soup is flavored with beef and pumpkin If you have ever enjoyed beef soup made with fresh, free-range, grass-fed beef you can understand my sentiment. But, you don’t need fresh organic beef to get the rich robust flavor of this favorite Caribbean soup. All you need are a couple meaty soup bones or a few chunks of stewing beef and a couple of fresh short ribs plus some calabaza squash a few veggies, some fresh herbs, plus a pack of pumpkin-flavored soup mix and voila, you’re in business.
Pumpkin – Beef Soup Recipe
- 2 lb. beef, (cut into small chunks)
- 1 lg onion, (diced)
- 3 cloves garlic, (chopped)
- 1 med turnip, (peeled and diced)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ lb. pumpkin, (diced)
- 1 lg carrot (sliced)
- 2 med potatoes (diced)
- 6 C water
- Dumplings
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 stalks scallion (chopped)
- 1 pk Pumpkin Noodle soup
In a large pot over medium heat; add the beef bones, onion, garlic, turnip, salt, black pepper and ½ of the diced pumpkin. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low
Stir well, cover the pot and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove the cover, stir and add 2 cups of water. Replace the cover and let the meat cook for at 45 to 60 minutes check for tenderness.
While the meat cooks. Peel, wash, and cut the vegetables. After meat cooks; add remaining vegetables and 3 cups of water. Stir well, cover and let soup cook for another 30 minutes while you prepare the dumplings. After 15 minutes add the dumplings to the pot and stir.
When soup begins to boil add escallion, noodle packet, thyme and pepper. Add water as desired (1-2 cups should be enough for a thick hearty broth), stir well.
Replace the cover and let soup simmer for another 12 to 15 minutes. Stir well before serving.
Optional Ingredients
½ lb. Jamaican white yam
½ lb. Jamaican yellow yam
1 lg. turnip, diced
1 lg. cho-cho (chayote), diced
1 habanero pepper, uncut
Do you ever put pimento?
I use a few pimento berries (allspice) in almost every meat I cook. If you don’t have berries a ½ tsp of allspice powder works too.