Pottage is a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish.It was a staple food from neolithic times to the Middle Ages. The word pottage comes from the same Old French root as potage, which is a similar type of dish of more recent origin.Pottage commonly consisted of various ingredients easily available to serfs and peasants and could be kept over the fire for a period of days, during which time some of it was eaten and more ingredients added.