'Medieval behaviors' leads to a journey of 'perpetual stew' that can cook for decades
July 18th marked 40 days of the stew cooking.
'Perpetual stew' cooking for 40 days is taking over social media.
Medieval times can be fascinating, especially when thinking about how far we have come with industrialization and technological advances. It can be hard to imagine what life would've truly been like during those times, which is why people attend festivals or learn how to do things that were prominent then.
Annie Rauwerda decided that she was going to try cooking a "perpetual stew" and made the announcement via a quick video with a caption that read, "more medieval behavior!" Thankfully, for those of us not versed in medieval dishes, she put a definition of perpetual stew on the screen.
"A perpetual stew, also known as forever soup, hunter's pot or hunter's stew, 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 liquids are replenished as necessary. Such foods can continue cooking for decades or longer if maintained properly," the Wikipedia definition reads.
Imagine going to a dinner party with new friends and they offer you soup that's been cooking for about ten years. There would probably be some confusion and some pretend spoonfuls as you quietly DoorDash something to your home. But this stew has captured the attention of the internet, and not a single person who has come to try it seems concerned that it's been cooking for weeks.
Since the stew is constantly cooking, then it is likely eliminating the chance of bacteria getting too comfortable. Rauwerda started her journey with the stew on June 7 and has been documenting the progress on TikTok and her website perpetualstew.club.
@depthsofwikipedia more medieval behavior!
Since her posts have gone viral, people have lined up to bring ingredients and have a taste of the now-famous stew. The ingredients are constantly changing as everyone brings something different. On tasting day, Rauwerda and her boyfriend dump the stew from the crockpot into a large cauldron and drag it to the park on something that looks like a small wagon.
So far, the stew is a hit and is still cooking. Rauwerda isn't the first person to recreate perpetual stew. There have been a few restaurants over the years that started and are still cooking perpetual stew for their customers. Would you eat perpetual stew?
@depthsofwikipedia come to the next one on sunday!