Pottages & First Course Dishes

Brothy, spoonable, simmered, stewed, and pot-cooked dishes that belonged naturally near the beginning of a historical meal. These recipes include pottages, broths, gruels, sops, stews, and other first-service dishes cooked in the pot or served with their cooking liquor.

Why Were Pottages Served First?

In medieval and early modern kitchens, the first service often favored foods that were warm, moist, nourishing, and easy for the stomach to receive. According to historical theories of digestion, the stomach benefited from foods that gently opened appetite, stirred internal warmth, and prepared the body for heavier dishes to follow.

Pottages were especially suited to this role. They could be thin broths, thickened soups, grain dishes, meat or fish stews, cooked greens, or bread sops soaked with seasoned liquor. They were practical, flexible, and deeply rooted in the everyday and feast kitchens alike.

About this collection: This catalog gathers recipes labeled as pottages, soups, broths, stews, gruels, sops, potages, first course dishes, and related pot-cooked dishes. Beverages, sweets, sauces, preserves, banquet dishes, and roast-course dishes belong in their own catalogs unless the recipe clearly functions as a broth, pottage, stew, sop, or first-service dish.

About this collection: This catalog gathers recipes specifically labeled as appetizers, medieval appetizers, Renaissance appetizers, or medieval finger foods. Related foods such as beverages, sauces, preserves, comfits, and banquet dishes may appear in their own catalogs.

Catalog note: This is a living collection and part of an ongoing archive renovation project. Historical recipes on Give It Forth span many years of research, and older posts were sometimes labeled according to earlier systems or broader categories. As labels are reviewed and standardized, recipes that do not best fit this catalog may be moved to a more appropriate collection, while dishes that belong here may be added.

Recipe Catalog

Gathering recipes from the archive...