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Hotch-Potch (Neck of mutton tablespoonfuls)
The neck of mutton, 2 tablespoonfuls of rice, I root of celery, 3 cloves, 3 turnips, I knuckle of veal, 2 quarts of water, I onion, I blade of mace, I whole green pepper, I carrot, 2 quarts of water.
Cut the beef, veal and mutton in small pieces, put in the kettle with the water. Add the other ingredients, cover and simmer gently three hours. Season, add a half pint of green peas, cook ten minutes longer and serve.
SOUP, à la MOUSQUETAIRE.
1 pint of shelled peas, 1 pound of beef or a beef bone, 1 quart of water.
A handful of sorrel, Put the beef, peas, sorrel, and water in a soup kettle and cook over a slow fire about two hours. At the end of that time remove the beef, put it in a baking-pan, spread with butter, dust with salt and pepper, and put in a quick oven until nice and brown. When done, put in the centre of a meat dish, pour the contents of the kettle around and Add seasoning, of course. serve. 4 pounds of round beef, I onion, A head of celery, POT au FEU.
1 clove of garlic. 2 carrots, A bay-leaf.
Tie the meat into a nice shape, then put in a soup kettle and cover with boiling water. Let simmer gently two hours, skim at the first boil. Then put in the garlic cut in small pieces, the onion, bay-leaf, and the other vegetables pared and cut into neat shapes. Simmer one hour longer, then, if you like, add two ounces of vermicelli. Boil ten minutes longer, season, and it is ready to serve. Put the meat in the centre of a large platter, arrange the vegetables neatly around it.
A long-simmered mutton and veal broth of the old British-Scottish sort, thickened lightly with rice and finished with fresh peas. The list runs to three meats even though only two are named among the ingredients, so treat the quantities as a guide rather than a formula.
- Meat quantitiesNeither the neck of mutton nor the knuckle of veal is given a weight, and a third meat (beef) appears in the method with no entry in the list. Around 1 lb neck of mutton and a 1-1.5 lb veal knuckle in 2 quarts of water gives a broth of the right strength.
- The waterTwo quarts is listed twice, almost certainly a duplication from the original's two-column ingredient list rather than a call for four quarts. Treat it as 2 quarts, adding more only if the meat is not covered.
- Neck of muttonSold now as lamb neck or neck fillet; true mutton (sheep over two years) is a special order from a butcher. Lamb neck on the bone is the closer substitute and gives the gelatine the dish depends on.
- Root of celeryProbably celeriac, though in period American lists 'a root of celery' can equally mean a whole head of celery. Either works: one small celeriac bulb, peeled and diced, or a small head of celery.
- Whole green pepperUnclear from the list: most likely a green bell pepper, possibly a fresh green chilli, left whole so it flavours the broth without dominating. Fish it out before serving.
- Blade of maceMace blades are the dried aril of nutmeg and still sold whole in spice shops. A quarter teaspoon of ground mace stands in, added in the last half hour so it does not turn bitter.
- Simmer, do not boilThree hours at a bare tremble is the hinge. A rolling boil emulsifies the mutton fat and clouds the broth; skim the grey foam off in the first ten minutes and keep the surface barely moving.
- Peas at the endHalf a pint of shelled peas, added for the last ten minutes, is what makes it hotch-potch rather than plain broth. Frozen peas need three or four minutes only. Add salt at this stage, not at the start, since three hours of reduction concentrates it.
- YieldServes four to six as a main course. The recipe does not say how the meat is served; lifting it out, boning it and returning it to the bowls in pieces is one convenient way.
Hotch-potch is the Scots form of the same word that gives English "hodgepodge" and French hochepot -- from hocher, to shake or jostle, describing a pot of mixed things shaken together over the fire. The Scottish version is firmly a summer dish: a mutton broth loaded with whatever the kitchen garden was producing, with young green peas and often broad beans and lettuce shredded in at the last minute, so that the sweetness of the vegetables cuts the richness of the neck and knuckle. The logic of the dish is that the meat provided the liquid, but the vegetables were the point, and one long-simmered kettle produced both a soup course and a boiled dinner from a cheap cut.