pottage

Pottage is a thick soup or stew produced by boiling vegetables, grains, and often meat in water or stock until the flavors meld and the mixture thickens. It is typically cooked in a single pot and can range from simple porridge-like dishes to more substantial stews.

The term derives from the Old French potage, meaning soup or stew, and has historically referred to a wide class of one-pot dishes in many cultures. In medieval Europe, pottage was a staple food for both peasants and households, valued for its ability to incorporate whatever ingredients were available. It functioned as a flexible daily fare and could be prepared with seasonal vegetables, grains, legumes, and sometimes offal or small scraps of meat.

Common ingredients include vegetables such as onions, leeks, cabbage, carrots, turnips, and potatoes; grains or legumes such as barley, oats, rice, lentils, or beans; and stock or water as a cooking liquid. The dish is often thickened by the starch of grains or legumes and may be seasoned with herbs, salt, pepper, and, when available, meat or fish.

In modern usage, pottage is largely historical in the sense of a household staple, with contemporary equivalents including soups, stews, or porridges. In French cuisine, similar soups are referred to as potages, while in some culinary contexts the English term may evoke historical or folkloric settings rather than standard menus.