Why go
It is useful to recognize as a broad family rather than one fixed recipe. Pork and vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes are common, but regional versions vary widely; potée Lorraine combines pork with carrots, turnips, leeks and cabbage. Its slow-cooked, winter character makes it a useful choice when a menu offers a regional dish that is closer to a sustaining stew than a refined sauce-based main.
The full story
Potée is a French culinary term for a preparation cooked in an earthenware pot. More specifically, it describes a soup or stew of pork and vegetables, especially cabbage and potatoes; choucroute is its most characteristic relative. It is an old dish with many names and local forms across Europe, and is comparable to garbure and pot-au-feu. Pork may appear as bacon, ribs, knuckle, tail, sausage or ham, though recipes can also use beef, lamb, veal, chicken or duck. Winter vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, turnips, celery and potatoes are typical. Potée Lorraine, for example, combines pork, carrots, turnips, leeks and a whole blanched cabbage, simmered in water or stock before sausage is added. The details change by region, but the sustaining slow-cooked character remains.