olla podrida

American  

[ol-uh puh-dree-duh, aw-lyah paw-three-thah, aw-yah] / ˌɒl ə pəˈdri də, ˌɔ lyɑ pɔˈðri ðɑ, ˌɔ yɑ /

noun

1. a spicy Spanish stew of sausage and other meat, chickpeas, and often tomatoes and other vegetables.

2. an incongruous mixture or miscellany; olio.

---

olla podrida British  

/ pɒˈdriːdə, poˈðriða /

noun

1. a Spanish dish, consisting of a stew with beans, sausages, etc

2. an assortment; miscellany

---

Etymology

Origin of olla podrida

1590–1600; < Spanish: literally, rotten pot

Example Sentences

A skillfully concocted olla podrida of Latin American nightclub idioms sizzling in Stravinskian sauce with occasional Straussian dumplings.

From Time Magazine Archive

His family is what the Spanish call olla podrida, or rotten pot, a mess.

From Time Magazine Archive

The investigating priest is soon dipping into an olla podrida involving cupidity, lost love and sudden deaths at the church that may or may not have been accidents.

From Time Magazine Archive

With her own hands the jolly madre soon prepared me an olla podrida of tomatoes, peppers, and the remains in my game bag.

From Los Gringos Or, An Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia by Wise, H. A. (Henry Augustus)

My theory was a book whose pages should resemble rather an olla podrida of variety than a tautological joint of monotonous nutriment.

From The Bed-Book of Happiness by Begbie, Harold