Savoury Pottage is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a traditional thick barley stew with beef, chicken, herbs and spinach. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of Savoury Pottage.
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Original Recipe
Savoury Pottage (from Sir Kenelm Digby The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelm Digby Opened,)
Make it of beef, mutton and veal; at last adding a Capon, or Pigeons. Put in at first a quartered Onion or two, some Oat-meal, or French barley, some bottome of a Venison-pasty-crust, twenty whole grains of Pepper; four or five Cloves at last, and a little bundle of sweet-herbs, store of Marigold-flowers. You may put in Parsley or other herbs.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
200g pearl barley beef stock (or stock cube)
½ tsp freshly-ground pepper
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
150g fresh spinach washed and shredded
large bunch of parsley, finely chopped
bunch of chives, finely chopped
20g violet leaves (if available) chopped
200g cubed beef or cubed mutton
4 chicken thighs, 4 chicken drumsticks
50g breadcrumbs
Method:
Fry the beef cubes to brown on each side then set aside. In the same pan (do not wash) brown the chicken pieces then set these aside. Again, using the same pan add the onions and fry until soft. Add the onions to the bottom of a large stock pot and pour in about 500ml of beef stock. Add the spices and stir. Then add the beef, chicken and pearl barley.
Cook on a low heat (either on the stove top or in the oven) for at least 80 minutes then take out the chicken pieces and add the breadcrumbs. Remove the meat from the chicken bones, shred and return to the pot (I've substituted these for the venison pie crust) and add the 'sweet herbs' (again, the herbs you use will depend on the season. Violet leaves were used commonly as they exude a thickening agent [rather like okra which though not authentic could be substituted]). Note that to Elizabethans the term 'herb' referred to any green vegetable. Continue to cook for a further five minutes then serve.
The meat you use is entirely up to you. If you want something more gamey then use guineafowl. For an even richer pottage use pheasant (which yields a truly excellent flavour).
