Recipes from Scotland 1680s to 1940s

Soups and broths


Hotch Potch

Margaret Hume Campbell's 1753 high class version of this nutritious one-pot meal is stuffed with meats and vegetables.

Beef, mutton, veal and pork are stewed together to make a strong gravy and then more mutton and beef chops are added.

During the long hours of cooking, the freshest garden herbs and vegetables available were stirred into Hotch Potch. This recipe calls for onions, celery, endive, carrots, turnips and spinach.

When tender, any large pieces of meat might be removed and served separately.

Hotch Potch was so common that Henry Underhill, a visitor to Scotland in 1868, remarked that 'dinner commenced with the inevitable Hotch pot, a remarkably good and comforting soup'.

Recipe detail

'To Make a Hotch Potch', Margaret Hume Campbell's recipe

Margaret Hume Campbell's recipe book, 1753 [Library reference: MS.15914].

Soups and broths