 It was used as early as 1292 as a legal term, and from the 15th century in cooking for a sort of broth with many ingredients (see Hodge-Podge soup), and so it is used figuratively for any heterogeneous mixture.It commonly arises in cases of divorce financial proceedings often in the guise of other names and general principles used.Hotchpot remains of occasional use in a dwindling range of jurisdictions worldwide to divide up a deceased person's estate subsequent to gift(s) which the local law considers