Pottage

Pottage is a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and sometimes meat or fish. It has old roots and was a staple food for many years, especially for people with less money. The word "pottage" comes from Old French and means food cooked in a pot.

People often made pottage with ingredients that were easy to find, like vegetables and grains. It could stay warm over a fire for days, and people would eat some and add more ingredients as they had them. This made pottage a dish that changed over time.

For most of Europe from the 9th to the 17th century, pottage was a regular part of meals for families with less money. Richer people might add more expensive foods like meat to their pottage, making it more special. Today, pottage is much like the soups we know, but it has a long history as a simple and filling meal.

Preparation

Pottage was boiled for a long time until everything mixed into one texture and flavor. This helped soften tough parts and made the food safe to eat. When possible, it was served with bread.

Biblical references

In the King James Bible, there is a story about Jacob and Esau from the Book of Genesis. Esau, who was very hungry, traded his important rights as the oldest son to Jacob for a meal of "bread and pottage of lentils". This story is why we sometimes say "a mess of pottage" to describe a bad deal.

Another Bible story from the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition tells of the prophet Elisha. He helped clean up a pot of food that had been made unsafe, so others could eat it safely.

England

Pottage was a common food in medieval England. People made it with grains, vegetables, and sometimes meat. In Middle English, thick pottages had different names like brewet and mortrew. One special type called frumenty used wheat grain, milk or almond milk, and spices.

An old cookbook from King Richard II’s chefs has pottage recipes, such as one with cabbage, ham, onions, and leeks. During the Tudor period, many peasants ate pottage with vegetables they grew, like carrots. A recipe from the 1600s mixed boiled mutton, oatmeal, and many herbs and flowers.

France

Potage was a common dish in the medieval cuisine of northern France. It became more popular from the High Middle Ages onward.

The word "potage" described many boiled and simmered foods. Some potages were very liquid, while others were more solid with ingredients like bread, pulses, or rice.

The main part of potages was broth made from meat, fowl, fish, or vegetables. Some potages were simple broths; others included veal, boar, birds, and fish; some had only vegetables like leeks, marrows, and lettuce.

Colonial America

Native American cuisine had a dish made with maize instead of European grains. This dish was called Indian succotash or Indian pottage. It was made by boiling corn and, when available, meat such as venison, bear, moose, otter, raccoon, or beaver. Fish like shad, eel, or herring could also be used. Sometimes kidney beans and vegetables such as Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, and squash were added. Ground nuts like acorns, chestnuts, or walnuts were used to make the pottage thicker.

In the cuisine of New England, pottage started as a simple mix of beans, vegetables, seasonings, and meat, fowl, or fish. This became a staple of early American cuisine and later developed into the chowders and baked beans common in New England today. Pottages might have been served at the First Thanksgiving.

Spanish cuisine

In Spanish cuisine, special church days called "festa doble" sometimes meant having two potaje meals. On meat days, one meal might be rice or noodles with cheese, and the other a meat stew (Catalan) cooked with wine, vinegar, parsley, saffron, and spices. On fish days, people would enjoy spinach from monastery gardens with peppers, or cabbage or lettuce if spinach wasn’t available. This would be followed by a dish made from semolina, noodles, rice in almond milk, or groats with cinnamon.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, yam pottage is a tasty dish made with vegetables. It is often served with fish or meat, and people enjoy it as a special meal.

Wales

Wales has a dish like pottage called cawl. Cawl is a broth or stew that people cook slowly over a fire for many days. They make it in a special fireplace called an inglenook and use ingredients like potatoes and leeks.