Name: Plum Pottage
Yield: Makes about 600 ml/1 pint (serves 4)
Ingredients: 25 ml sherry; The juice and finely grated zest of ½ a lemon; Generous pinch of salt; 2–3 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 75 g/3 oz white or whiteish breadcrumbs (about 3 slices, crusts removed); 25 ml claret; 55 g/2 oz currants; ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg; ¼ tsp each ground cloves and mace; Approx. 750 g/1½ lb bone-in beef – short ribs or shin are ideal; 110 g/4 oz prunes, soaked for a few hours if very dry; 25 g/1 oz raisins

Preparation info

Makes about 600 ml 1 pint (serves
4
)

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

At Christmas We Feast

By Annie Gray

Published 2021

About

Charles Carter, 1732, The Compleat City and Country Cook⁵⁵

Recipes for plum pottage are surprisingly scarce, although many others which aren’t specifically labelled as such would yield very similar results. It is very hard to fit it into modern dining patterns, as it is neither a soup nor a stew, and neither definitely savoury, nor sweet. For that reason, it is probably easiest to