RD Blackmore's 1869 novel 'Lorna Doone' has "She can't stir a pot of brewis."
Original Receipt from A New System Of Domestic Cookery By 'A Lady' (Mrs. Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell) (Rundell 1807)RESPECTING THE POOR
A very good meal may be bestowed in a thing called Brewis, which is thus made: cut a very thick upper crust of bread and put it into the pot, Have salt beef boiling and near ready; it will attract some of the fat, and, when swelled out, will be no unpalatable dish to those who rarely taste meat.
Brewis
Image: foodsofengland.uk