Olla podrida
Olla podrida is a Spanish stew. Its principal ingredient is the red bean, and is well appreciated when it is made with the exquisite red beans of Ibeas de Juarros. The beans are traditionally prepared in a clay pot over several hours (hence its name) until they become soft. To the stew one adds the following "powerful" ingredients: bacon, morcilla from Burgos, chorizo, and the ribs, ears, and snout of smoked pig. The dish sometimes includes la bola or stuffing (similar to the cocido stew), finished with egg. It is eaten as a main course, although one serves beans first and then the meats separately.
History
Olla podrida is a popular dish in Spain, especially Castile, and dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was called olla poderida, where poderida meant "powerful" ("olla" refers to stew or to the stew pot), referring to the powerful ingredients that it included, or because only the rich powerful could get near this dish.
Following certain rules of the language, the "e" disappeared and left the word "podrida," a word which means "rotten." This often leads to much confusion, such as theories that the word referred to a stew which incorporated old bits of meat which were starting to "go off."
After the French arrived, they fell in love with the recipe for olla podrida and imported it into their country, translating the words exactly without investigating further. They call this dish potpourri. Like olla podrida, it contains a wide variety of ingredients, and the word took on in French the metaphorical sense of a mixture of diverse things.
In the 19th century it also acquired (also in France) the meaning of a musical composition formed from fragments or themes from diverse works. And it was precisely with this musical meaning that France returned to Spain a French-style olla podrida, with the word "potpourri." It is said that "the orchestra interpreted a potpourri of..." because it sounds better than saying "interpreted an olla podrida (rotten stew) of..." Such is the most frequent use of "potpourri," that however can be used to allude to any mixture of diverse things.
In Don Quixote, Cervantes has the gluttonous Sancho Panza say these words:
- "This plate that is steaming in front of me appears to me to be olla podrida, because of the diversity of ingredients that there are in some ollas podridas, I won't be able to stop running into some that is to me of taste and benefit..."
Regional Association
It is the dish most representative of the cuisine of the region of Burgos, in particular the city of Burgos itself and its surrounding villages. It is primarily consumed during the winter months and during times of bad weather.