Hotch Potch

Origin: Before cuisine made names for itself, there were pots pulled to the fire that held everything available. Hotch-potch, or hodge-podge, comes from the Middle French hochepot — a word meaning “to shake the pot.”
It appears in English kitchens as early as the 14th-15th centuries, described as a stew of goose or mutton, vegetables and wine.

In Scotland and northern England it became a staple: mutton boiled with roots, peas, barley, and greens, all simmered together until the contents forgot where they started

In the Canadian Maritimes, the term survived as a summer vegetable stew — new potatoes, carrots, beans, butter and cream — still a mixture, still a pot of everything.
Hotch-potch isn’t a dish of precision. It’s a dish of possibility — the memory of communal pots, shared meals, and the art of making abundance from what the kitchen has.

Ingredients

This is a stew for the in-between seasons, the lean times, the days when abundance looks like a pot that never empties.

Traditionally made with mutton or beef and whatever veg was growing nearby, Hotch Potch isn’t about precision.

It’s about making do, making well, and making full. It’s not fancy—it’s true

1½–2 lbs lamb shoulder or stewing beef, bone-in if possible

1 tbsp fat (drippings, butter, or oil)

1 large onion, roughly chopped

3–4 carrots, chunked

2–3 parsnips, chunked

½ head green cabbage, roughly chopped

1–2 leeks, cleaned and sliced

½ cup pearl barley (optional, but traditional)

6 cups water or light broth

Salt + pepper to taste

Fresh thyme or parsley, if you’ve got it

How The Alchemy Happens

In a large pot, sear the meat in fat until browned. Remove and set aside.

In the same pot, sauté onions and leeks until soft.

Return the meat, add water or broth, and bring to a boil. Skim if needed.

Add carrots, parsnips, barley, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered for 1–1.5 hours.

Add cabbage near the end, let it wilt into the stew.

Remove bones if present, shred the meat, return to the pot.

Taste, adjust, and serve steaming, preferably with bread and silence.