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 A potage soup, in this case prepared with potato and truffle | |
| Type | Soup,stew, orporridge |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Vegetables,grains,meat orfish |
Pottage orpotage (/pɒˈ-,pəˈ-/,French:[potaʒ]ⓘ; from Old French pottage 'food cooked in a pot') is a term for a thicksoup orstew made by boilingvegetables,grains, and, if available,meat orfish.[a] It was astaple food for many centuries.[1][2] The wordpottage comes from the sameOld French root aspotage, which is a dish of more recent origin.
Pottage ordinarily consisted of various ingredients, sometimes those easily available topeasants. 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.[3] When wealthier people ate pottage, they would add more expensive ingredients such as meats.
Pottage was typically boiled for several hours until the entire mixture took on a homogeneous texture and flavour; this was intended to break down complexstarches and to ensure the food was safe for consumption. It was often served, when possible, with bread.
In theKing James Bible translation of the story ofJacob and Esau in theBook of Genesis, Esau, being famished, sold his birthright (the rights of the eldest son) to his twin brother Jacob in exchange for a meal of "bread and pottage oflentils" (Gen 25:29–34). This incident is the origin of the phrase a "mess of pottage" (which is not in any Biblical text) to mean a bad bargain involving short-term gain and long-term loss.
In theRevised Standard Version Catholic Edition translation of the Bible, the prophetElisha purifies a pot of poisoned pottage that was set before the sons of the prophets (2 Kings 4:38–41).
Pottage was a staple of the medieval English diet. During the Middle Ages it was usually made with wheat, barley, or oats. InMiddle English, thick pottages (stondyng) made withcereals, kidneys, shredded meat, sometimes thickened with egg yolks and bread crumbs were called by various names likebrewet,egerdouce,mortrew,mawmenee,blancmange andblance dessore. Thinner pottages were said to beronnyng.[4]Frumenty was a pottage made with freshly-cleaned wheat grain that was boiled until it burst, allowed to cool, then boiled with broth and either cow milk oralmond milk, and thickened with egg yolk and flavored with sugar and spices.[5]
The earliest known cookery manuscript in the English language,The Forme of Cury, written by the courtchefs ofKing Richard II,[6] contains several pottage recipes including one made from cabbage, ham, onions and leeks.[7]Google Books andInternet Archive. A slightly later manuscript from the 1430s is called Potage Dyvers ("Various Pottages").[8] During theTudor period, a good many Englishpeasants' diets consisted almost solely of pottage and self-cultivated vegetables, such as carrots. An early 17th-century British recipe for pottage was made by boiling mutton andoatmeal withviolet leaves,endive,chicory,strawberry leaves,spinach,langdebeefe,marigold flowers,scallions andparsley.[4]
Potage was a common dish in the medieval cuisine ofnorthern France, and it increased in popularity from theHigh Middle Ages onward. The word "potage" as a culinary term appears as early as the mid-13th century, describing a wide variety of boiled and simmered foods. Somepotages were very liquid, others were relatively solid with ingredients like bread, pulses, or rice that fully absorbed the liquid. Otherpotages resembledragoûts and other dishes that would be recognized asentrées in the 17th century and later. Still others wereporrées[9]of vegetables.[10]
Among the earliest texts to include recipes forpotages isLe Viandier (c. 1300), which includes twenty-seven recipes for various potages, placed under the heading "potages lyans" (thickenedpotages) in some manuscripts.[11] Recipes forpotages (orpotaiges) also appear inLe Ménagier de Paris (1393) under various headings, including "a espices" or "sans espices" (with or without spices), and "lyans" or "non lyans" (thickened or not);[12] and in thePetit traicté auquel verrez la maniere de faire cuisine (c. 1536), more widely known from a later edition titledLivre fort excellent de cuisine (1542).[13][14]
In thePetit traicté, in a collection of menus[b] at the end of the book,potages comprise one of the four stages of the meal. The first stage is theentree de table (entrance to the table); the second stage consists ofpotaiges (foods boiled or simmered "in pots"); the third consists of one or moreservices de rost (meat or fowl "roasted" in dry heat); and the last is theissue de table (departure from the table).[15] These four stages of the meal appear consistently in this order in all the books that derive from thePetit traicté.[16]
The termsentree de table andissue de table are organizing phrases, "describing the structure of a meal rather than the food itself".[17] The termspotaiges androst indicate cooking methods but not ingredients. The menus, though, give some idea of both the ingredients and the cooking methods that were characteristic of each stage of the meal.
The essential element of thepotages wasbroth from meat, fowl, fish, or vegetables. Somepotages were simple broths; others included veal, boar, furred game, boiled fowl and game birds of all sorts, and fish; others included only vegetables like leeks, marrows, and lettuce. The many types ofpotages are similar to those of the menus in theMénagier de Paris, written 150 years before thePetit traicté.[18]
Between the mid-16th and mid-17th century, the stages of the meal underwent several significant changes. Notably,potage became the first stage of the meal and the entrée became the second stage, followed by theroast,entremets, anddessert.[19]
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries,potages on meat days[c] were broths made from all sorts of butcher’s meat, fowl, and feathered game, but not furred game. Additions to the broth included the meat or fowl used to make the broth; other meats, includingorgan meats; vegetables; and bread or pasta.[20] Common types ofpotages included bouillon (clear broth from poached meat or fowl);soupe (bouillon mixed with finely grated bread);oilles (potages of root vegetables and varied meats); andbisques (potages of the finest delicacies - not the smooth, creamybisques of modern cuisine).[21]
On lean days,[22]fish replaced meat and fowl in every stage of the meal other than dessert. Meat and fowl broths were replaced by fish broth, vegetablepurées, milk or almond milk, and juices of various vegetables like asparagus, artichokes, and mushrooms. Animal fats were replaced with butter and sometimes with oil. Additions to the broth included a wide variety of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, turtles, frogs, and evenscoters (a seaduck, not a fish).
Vegetablepotages were also common on lean days, many made of vegetables that appeared almost exclusively on lean days, such as cabbage, lettuce, onions, leeks, carrots, lentils, pumpkin, turnips, and white and black salsify. Other vegetables inpotages on lean days were of a finer quality of the sort served asentremets orLenten entrées, including cauliflower, spinach, artichokes, cardoons, chard, celery, Paris mushrooms, and skirrets. Out ofLent,potages on lean days sometimes also included eggs.[23]
Native American cuisine also had a similar dish, but it was made withmaize rather than the traditional Europeangrain varieties.Indiansuccotash, sometimes calledpondomenast orIndian pottage was made with boiled corn and, when available, meat likevenison,bear,moose,otter,raccoon orbeaver. Dried fish likeshad,eel, orherring could be used in place of the meat.Kidney beans were sometimes mixed into Indian pottage, along with vegetables likeJerusalem artichoke,pumpkin,squash. Ground nuts likeacorns,chestnuts orwalnuts were used to thicken the pottage.[24]
In thecuisine of New England, pottage began as boiled grain, vegetables, seasonings and meat,fowl orfish. This simple staple ofearly American cuisine eventually evolved into thechowders andbaked beans typical of New England's cuisine.[25] A version of "scotch barley broth" is attested to in the 18th century colonial recipe collection calledMrs Gardiner's Family Receipts.[26] Pottages were probably served at theFirst Thanksgiving.[27]
According toSpanish cuisine religious customs, if afesta doble (a "double feast" in the church) fell on ameat day two consecutivepotaje courses were served, one of which would be a cheese-topped rice or noodle dish, the other a meat stew (Catalan:guisat) cooked in "salsa" made from wine, vinegar, parsley, spleen, liver, saffron, egg yolks and assorted spices. Twopotaje courses were also served for fish days, first high-quality spinach from themonastery gardens topped with peppers, or cabbage or lettuce (if spinach could not be found), followed by either a bowl ofsemolina or noodles or rice cooked inalmond milk, or a grain bowl of semolinagroats seasoned with cinnamon.[28]
In Nigeria, the yam pottage is a known delicacy eaten with vegetables and fish or meat.[29]
This is similar to the Welshcawl, which is a broth, soup or stew often cooked on and off for days at a time over the fire in a traditionalinglenook, containing ingredients such as potatoes and leek.
The medieval Catholic Church forbade the eating of meat on religious days, and, in the seventh century, the number of these days was dramatically expanded. The Lenten fast, a custom started in the fourth century, was increased to forty days, and in addition all Fridays, the day of Christ's crucifixion, were included. In all, about half the days of the year became 'lean' days, and food prohibitions for these days were strictly enforced.
