Olla podrida

Olla podrida (literally "rotten [putrid] pot") is a Spanish stew made from pork and beans and an inconsistent, wide variety of other meats and vegetables, often including chickpeas, depending on the recipe used. The meal is traditionally prepared in a clay pot over several hours. It is eaten as a main course, sometimes as a single dish, and sometimes with ingredients separated (i.e., meats from the rest, or liquids from solids). It is a specialty of the city of Burgos.

I first heard the term, though, in the context of The Olla Podrida, a specialty shopping center in Dallas. Looking like three old red barns, the space had been converted from abandoned airport hangars, utilized recycled building materials and architectural antiques. Containing eighty-eight specialty and craft shops, artists' galleries, antique retailers, and classrooms, it was one of Dallas' most popular shopping facilities for a quarter century. There are various rumors about why it folded , the usual one being that it was because of the impossibility of bringing it up to evolving architectural codes and especially issues of accessibility. Other people claim that just as big an issue was the fact that the land on which it sat had become much too valuable for other uses.

Whatever. It was a fascinating and fun place, at least for people like me who like places like that. (That sentence is a tautology, but I will let you look that up yourself if you wish.) I was sad to see that it had disappeared when I visited Dallas some years ago.

Why did I think of this today? Because I had a jumble of thoughts that I considered putting into a blog and was looking for a title more original than "Bits and pieces" or "Odds and ends" and such-like. And olla podrida popped into my head.

But I thought it deserved a post of its own. And here it is.