On June 7, Annie Rauwerda made a batch of potato-leek stew in her Crockpot. She hoped to keep it simmering for five days, in an attempt to make "perpetual stew," a medieval soup that cooks for prolonged periods of time. But her experiment took off, fueled by enthusiastic TikTok fans, and now Rauwerda's stew has been cooking for 35 days and counting.
In an introductory video, Rauwerda shared a screenshot of the Wikipedia entry for "perpetual stew." Also known as forever soup or hunter's pot, it is "a pot into which whatever foodstuffs one can find is placed and cooked. The pot is never or rarely emptied all the way, and ingredients and liquid are replenished as necessary. Such foods can continue cooking for decades or longer, if properly maintained."
Fans of medieval history will know that perpetual stews are a mainstay in descriptions of inns. Apparently, foods cooked in a perpetual stew are uniquely flavorful "due to the manner in which the ingredients blend together."
Wikipedia shares that one perpetual stew was allegedly kept going in Perpignan, southern France, from the 15th century till World War II, when its custodian ran out of ingredients to keep it going during the German occupation.
Fast forward to the present day where Rauwerda is simmering her perpetual stew in Brooklyn, New York, and the response has been overwhelming. She began inviting friends and eventually strangers to contribute ingredients to the stew—and to partake in its deliciousness at public "stew nights" on Sundays at a park. She now has a website dedicated to the ongoing project, where reviewers say that the stew is "stew-pendous," "stewper duper," and "stewpidly delicious."
People can add anything tasty to the vegan stew, though at one point Rauwerda said dill was overpowering the stew's flavor, and one contribution of birds-eye chiles was cautiously rejected. Successful additions include sweet potatoes, barley-spice mix, mushrooms, turnips, radishes, and more. If in doubt, broth is always welcome. On one particular evening, the pot received 8 potatoes, 4 pieces of celery, 3 carrots, 1 cup of bean sprouts, 1 cup of rice, 1 clove of garlic, and 2 onions.
Is Perpetual Stew Safe to Eat?
Food poisoning is, of course, the question on everyone's minds. Can something cook continuously for that long and not make anyone sick? According to HowStuffWorks, as long as it is maintained at 200 degrees F (93 degrees C), which is the temperature required for a steady simmer, nothing bad can grow.
"Bacteria known to cause food-borne illness flourishes at temperatures between 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) and 140 degrees F (60 degrees C), but can't survive the heat of a constant simmer."
Rauwerda says her stew stays at 200 degrees F (93 degrees C). In the FAQ section of her website, she adds, "We also cycle (eat) the stew out throughout the week so ingredients aren't in there for too long."
It is a fascinating concept, and it will be interesting to see how long this particular perpetual stew goes on. Rauwerda has dubbed it "perpetual stew summer" and challenges anyone who questions that notion:
"All the people who say it's not 'stew season' (a term I emphatically reject) haven't woken up on a Saturday morning in June to such hearty aromas wafting through their apartment. If breakfast was this good, I can only imagine what new miracles the rest of the day will bring."
FAQs
The pot is never or rarely emptied all the way, and ingredients and liquid are replenished as necessary. Such foods can continue cooking for decades or longer, if properly maintained." Fans of medieval history will know that perpetual stews are a mainstay in descriptions of inns.
What did having a stew mean in medieval times? ›
Only the wealthy could afford the luxury of a long, hot bath. This was called a 'stew'.
What is an example of a perpetual stew? ›
Historical examples
A batch of pot-au-feu was claimed by one writer to be maintained as a perpetual stew in Perpignan from the 15th century until World War II, when it ran out of ingredients to keep the stew going due to the German occupation.
What is the history of perpetual soup? ›
Once a common dish in medieval times, perpetual stew's origins can be best described in British historian Reay Tannahill's book, Food in History. In the Middle Ages, Tannahill writes, pubs and inns always had a cauldron of stew boiling in case weary travelers or guests wandered in, day or night.
How do perpetual soups work? ›
According to Wikipedia (where Rauwerda first stumbled upon this idea), “The pot is never or rarely emptied all the way, and ingredients and liquids are replenished as necessary.” The concept, which was supposedly common in medieval inns, is supposed to maximize flavor “due to the manner in which the ingredients blend ...
What is the definition of soup and stew? ›
Another way to look at it: Soup is any combination of ingredients cooked in liquid. Stew is any dish that's prepared by stewing—that is, submerging the ingredients with just enough liquid to cook them through at a simmer in a covered pot for a long time.
What is stew explained? ›
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, venison, rabbit, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood.
What was medieval stew called? ›
Pottage consistently remained a staple of poor people's diet throughout most of 9th to 17th-century Europe. When wealthier people ate pottage, they would add more expensive ingredients such as meats. The pottage that these people ate was much like modern-day soups.
What soup has been cooking for 45 years? ›
The giant pot of neua tune, a beef stew popular in the Thai capital, has been simmering since owner Nattapong Kaweenuntawong was a child, more than 45 years ago. Growing up studying the exact flavor profile of the stew from his father, Kaweenuntawong now balances the flavor himself daily.
What is the old meaning of stew? ›
The first time that the Old French word estuve jumped to English shores as "stew," it meant either a stove, a heated room, or a cooking cauldron. That probably comes from way back, from the Latin extufare, meaning "evaporate," whose roots waft even further back to the Greek word typhos, "smoke."
And yes, because it's always kept at boiling temperature (there was a close call on June 14 when Shayne briefly blew a fuse making toast), and the ingredients are cycled out at a fast pace, it should be safe to eat. Perpetual stews have been around for a while and “have simmered for years on end!” she notes.
What is the danger zone for perpetual stew? ›
Kept in a cauldron just above the 'danger zone' of 60 degrees celsius, the stock would be made of ale, bread, beans, salted pork, cabbage and whatever else might be at hand, constantly evolving depending on what had been thrown into the pot each day. It would then be served up as a cheap meal for weary travellers.
What is the longest perpetual stew ever served? ›
In Japan, the restaurant Otaf*cku in the Asakusa district of Tokyo serves a stew called oden, which has been replenished constantly since 1945. The only reason it doesn't date back until 1916, when the restaurant opened, is said to be because that soup was lost in a World War II air raid.
Is 50 year old soup safe? ›
However, while some may be worried about the cleanliness of the age-old dish, Kaweeantawong reassures that it is safe to eat. “Lots of people think we never clean the pot. But we clean it every evening. We remove the soup from the pot, then keep a little bit simmering overnight,” he explained.
Does drinking soup fill you up? ›
Although liquids empty from the stomach faster than solids, thicker liquids like soup are different. They actually tend to cause the stomach to expand a bit more, and remain in the stomach longer, so you feel more full, for a longer length of time.
What does it mean when someone says stew? ›
If you let a person stew or if you leave them to stew, you deliberately allow them to worry about something for a while, rather than telling them something which would make them feel better.
What does the idiom in a stew mean? ›
: excited, worried, or confused. He got himself in a stew over nothing. She's been in a stew for days.
