Pottage
A potage soup, in this case prepared with potato and truffle | |
| Type | Soup, stew, or porridge |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Vegetables, grains, meat or fish |
Pottage or potage (/pɒˈ-, pəˈ-/, French: [potaʒ] ⓘ; from Old French pottage 'food cooked in a pot') is a term for a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish. It was a staple food for many centuries. The word pottage comes from the same Old French root as potage, which is a dish of more recent origin.
Pottage ordinarily consisted of various ingredients, sometimes those easily available to peasants. It could be kept over the fire for a period of days, during which time some of it could be eaten, and more ingredients added. The result was a dish that was constantly changing. Pottage consistently remained a staple of poor people's diet throughout most of 9th to 17th-century Europe. The pottage that these people ate was much like modern-day soups. When wealthier people ate pottage, they would add more expensive ingredients such as meats.