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."
