Perpetual stew

A perpetual stew, also known as forever soup, hunter's pot[1][2] or hunter's stew, is a pot into which whatever 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.[1][3] The concept is often a common element in descriptions of medieval inns. Foods prepared in a perpetual stew have been described as being flavorful due to the manner in which the ingredients blend together,[4] in which the flavor may improve with age.[5]

Perpetual stew
Cocido montañés, a Cantabrian version of perpetual stew
Alternative namesHunter's pot, hunter's stew
TypeStew

Examples

Perpetual stews were common in medieval cuisine, often as pottage or pot-au-feu:

Bread, water or ale, and a companaticum ('that which goes with the bread') from the cauldron, the original stockpot or pot-au-feu that provided an ever-changing broth enriched daily with whatever was available. The cauldron was rarely emptied out except in preparation for the meatless weeks of Lent, so that while a hare, hen or pigeon would give it a fine, meaty flavour, the taste of salted pork or cabbage would linger for days, even weeks.

— Reay Tannahill[4]

Between August 2014 and April 2015, a New York restaurant served broth from the same perpetual stew (a master stock) for over eight months.[6][7]

Wattana Panich restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, has continued to maintain the broth from the same perpetual stew for over 47 years (as of 2022).[8]

One batch of pot-au-feu was 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.[9]

Ingredients

Various ingredients can be used in a perpetual stew, such as root vegetables and tubers (onion, carrot, garlic, parsnip, turnip, etc.) and various meats and game meats.[3][5]

William Gibson references a perpetual stew served on the Bridge in his novel Idoru.[10]

In A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, Arya eats from an inn serving a perpetual stew, into which she contributes a pigeon, while living in the slums of Kings Landing after the actions of A Game of Thrones.

See also

References
  1. Slabbert, Joan (2005). Bwana Kakuli. Trafford Publishing. pp. 76–77. ISBN 1412061563.
  2. Fitzpatrick, Sir Percy (1907). Jock of the Bushveld. Longmans, Green and Company. pp. 79–80.
  3. "Perpetual stew". Florence, Alabama: Times Daily. Associated Press. May 3, 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  4. Food in History, by Reay Tannahill. New York: Crown Publishers, 1989. ISBN 0-517-57186-2.
  5. Henwood, Rodney (2013). Game Ranger. Author House. p. 105. ISBN 978-1491875698.
  6. Kravitz, Melissa (26 January 2015). "It's alive! Chef David Santos' stew never stops evolving at Luoro". AM New York. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  7. Sterling, Justine (28 January 2015). "Why You Shouldn't Be Terrified of This Never-Ending Stew". Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  8. GreatBigStory (19 July 2019). "This Soup Has Been Simmering for 45 Years". YouTube. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  9. Prager, Arthur (1981). "From, A Pot-Au-Feu, Many Happy Returns". New York Times.
  10. "50-year old pot of soup in Hong Kong? - Restaurants - China". 5 April 2007.
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