Thick, peppery tripe soup with vegetables, dumplings and a heavy hand on black pepper. The historic soldiers' soup of Valley Forge, kept alive at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia.

Pepper pot soup was reportedly created at Valley Forge in 1777 by Continental Army cook Christopher Ludwick under General George Washington's orders to feed the starving troops with what little was on hand: tripe, scraps, peppercorns and stale bread. The recipe travelled into Philadelphia kitchens with returning soldiers and became a 19th-century city staple, hawked by Black Philadelphian street-cart vendors known as Pepper-Pot Women. The dish faded after the Second World War but holds on at Reading Terminal Market and a handful of South Philly counters. Lots of black pepper, hand-cut tripe, dumplings and root vegetables give the soup its name.

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Reading Terminal Market ★ 4.8

$Market

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is the 1893 enclosed public market under the old Reading Railroad train shed at 12th and Arch, with 80 vendors.

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