Olla Podrida

Olla Podrida is a Spanish stew made from pork, beans and an inconsistent, wide variety of other meats and vegetables, which Marryat uses to describe this combination of a diary of his travels on the Continent, short stories, and satirical essays on how to write "a Fashionable Novel," "a Book of Travels," and "a Romance."

Captain Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) was an English Royal Navy officer, novelist, and a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Dickens, noted today as an early pioneer of the sea story. He is now known particularly for the semi-autobiographical novel Mr. Midshipman Easy and his children's novel The Children of the New Forest, and for a widely used system of maritime flag signaling, known as Marryat's Code.