Lancashire hotpot

History and etymology

In the 17th century, the word "hotpot" referred not to a stew but to a hot drink—a mixture of ale and spirits, or sweetened spiced ale. An early use of the term to mean a meat stew was in The Liverpool Telegraph in 1836: "hashes, and fricassees, and second-hand Irish hot-pots" and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) cites the dish as being served in Liverpool in 1842.

The OED gives the etymology as "hot adj. + pot n.", and cites the analogous French term pot-au-feu. A Book of Cookrye (1591) gives a recipe for hodgepodge, using "neck of mutton or a fat rump of beef", cooked and served in a broth thickened with bread. The term "hotchpotch" for a stew continued into the 19th century: Mrs Beeton (1861) gives a recipe under that name for a beef and onion stew in beer.

Hotpot became associated with Lancashire. In the OCF the food historian Roy Shipperbottom writes: ranges) and the fact that the potato came early into use in Lancashire combined to make this dish popular. Also, it was a great advantage that hotpot could be left to cook while the family were at work.|}}

Preparation

The recipe usually calls for a mix of mutton (nowadays more frequently lamb) and onions covered with sliced potato, and slowly baked in a pot containing stock or sometimes water. Some early recipes add lamb kidneys or oysters to the dish.

The traditional Lancashire hotpot dish is tall, round, and straight-sided, with a lid. Regardless of the baking dish, the lid should fit tightly.

Lancashire hotpot is traditionally served with pickled red cabbage.

Notes

References

Sources

References

1. {{cite OED. hotpot
2. "To Viscount Sandon, MP", ''The Liverpool Telegraph'', 9 November 1836, p. 6
3. The ''[[Oxford Companion to Food]]'' (OCF) cites [[Elizabeth Gaskell]]'s 1854 novel ''[[North and South (Gaskell novel)
4. [https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9H0791 "hochepot"], ''Dictionnaire de l'Académie française''. Retrieved 21 January 2023
5. [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A14584.0001.001/1:2.2.1.32?rgn=div4;submit=Go;subview=detail;type=simple;view=fulltext;q1=hodgepodge "A Book of Cookrye"], "To make a hodgepodge", ''Early English Books'', University of Michigan. Retrieved 21 January 2023
6. Beeton, p. 101
7. Berry, Mary. (29 April 2018). "Britain’s Best Home Cook — recipes that inspire Mary Berry: Lancashire hotpot". Times Media Limited.
8. Ekani, Ella. (6 October 2024). "Mary Berry Lancashire Hotpot Recipe". British Baking Recipes.
9. Cloake, Felicity. (31 October 2013). "How to cook the perfect Lancashire hotpot". Guardian News & Media Limited.