The peposo owes a substantial part of its fame to Filippo Brunelleschi. Legend has it that the construction of the dome of the Florentine Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore was handled almost entirely by fornacini from Impruneta, who were used to cooking meat at the mouth of the kiln alongside the rooftiles.
A key difference being that due to the rarity and high price of spices, meat was cooked without them. It was the famous architect, Burnelleschi, who, after having tasted the dish, chose to provide the fornacini with pepper and spices to flavour the meat, thus giving life to the first versions of peposo.
Another legend has it that, when the workers went for lunch to the taverns, they always returned to work tipsy, wasting precious time. To avoid this, Brunelleschi chose to have wine and pepper arrive directly to the scaffolding, so that the workers could eat directly on the spot.