this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
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Today I Learned

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A perpetual stew, also known as forever soup, hunter's pot, or hunter's stew, is a pot into which foodstuffs are placed and cooked, continuously. 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. 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. Various ingredients can be used in a perpetual stew such as root vegetables, tubers (potatoes, yams, etc.), and various meats.

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[–] Maultasche 200 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

Does this mean that they started the first batch thousands of years ago with Theseus in it?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Them's good eatin'. Add some broth, a potato... baby, you got a stew going.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

There's barely any person left in it these days

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

There's a bit of an aftertaste of tar from his ship tho

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[–] satanmat 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

🎶 this is the soup that never ends

It just goes on and on my friends ….

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

I love that lol.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

this comment goes hard, mind if i screenshot

[–] spankmonkey 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Don't do it, that would get you banned from the internet!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

you can neither stop me nor even tell if i’ve done it 😼

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What's doing on here? I came because I sensed a disturbance in the Web

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[–] spankmonkey 48 points 3 weeks ago

Best way to avoid cleaning the pot!

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Made one during the pandemic lockdown. Lasted about a month before I got tired of soup.

[–] rockSlayer 32 points 3 weeks ago

Was it good though?

[–] AquaTofana 14 points 3 weeks ago

My husband and I had one going for a little over a week before the lockdowns as well. I just kinda lost interest in it.

Kudos to your dedication!

[–] wjrii 37 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

One minor cultural artifact of this general idea:

Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Just don't scrape the pot too hard when stirring it.

[–] yggstyle 33 points 3 weeks ago

Look my iron deficiency isn't going to fix itself...

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[–] BlitzoTheOisSilent 32 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Fun fact: ever had soup at a restaurant, and then made it at home but it didn't taste quite the same or as good? There's two main reasons:

  1. If it's a restaurant that actually makes their own soups (versus them being shipped in in a bag to be reheated), they're very likely using leftovers to make your soup. So unless you're using the exact same ingredients as the restaurant, it's not going to taste the same.

  2. The bigger reason being that they likely made the soup you're eating at least the day before it's served to you. This gives the ingredients of the soup time to marry, this is that "blend together" they're talking about. This takes time, regardless of what you're cooking, but it gives the ingredients the necessary time overnight to just... Become a better soup.

The leftovers they use have likely been marrying their flavors for a day or two before they're put into the soup, so all of that blended flavor deliciousness is going to blend even more in the soup.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Ah, but what about a perpetual 1 day blinding stew?

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[–] FlyingSquid 26 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Remember: you have to start it cooking by putting in a stone.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

Awesome.

I was leaving the library over day with my son and looked at the cart of free books. Stone Soup was on that cart and damned sure I grabbed it.

Gifted it to a friend on their child's first birthday.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

At what point does a soup become a stew?

[–] BreadstickNinja 25 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I'd say you can drink a soup but you can't easily drink a stew.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Incidentally, would a bowl of cereal be considered soup?

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[–] Nurse_Robot 18 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I would unironically love it if a restaurant had this

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Right? It sounds delicious. Not sure how that would fly with modern health and safety rules, though. The Wikipedia entry says a New York restaurant did one for ~8 months, so it must be possible somehow.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Needs to be kept above 70degC so heating could be costly. Other than that it's safer than refridgeration as that only slows growth whereas keeping it hot prevents any growth at all.

[–] modeler 9 points 3 weeks ago

Better: Above 60°C pasteurizes the contents so killing all bacteria.

Technically pasteurization is met by holding the food over a specific temperature for a specific time, so over 63-65°C for 30 minutes, or 100°C for 12 seconds.

Normal pasteurization is very similar to cooking in times and temperature, and so pasteurization cooks both the food, altering texture, appearance and taste, and the bacteria.

UHT means ultra high temperature pasteurisation, which heats, eg, milk well over 100°C for only a couple of seconds and immediately cools it, minimizing the alteration of the milk.

So, by keeping the stew over 70°C, the stew is completely food safe.

[–] kamenlady 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

I saw that, and I also vaguely remember reading that in the past. So I guess it was less TIL and more "today I remembered" lol.

[–] yggstyle 6 points 3 weeks ago

A little soup store in Illinois called journeys end did something like this. (Long gone, a Walgreens got it)

They'd have pots of soup that would kinda morph into the next one. It was pure comfort food and their sandwiches were dope. RIP.

But it was popular. I think more places should do it.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

What does the FDA say about this?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Add worms and inject soup in brain.

[–] iAvicenna 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

is this the FDA guide under Trump's team

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[–] johannesvanderwhales 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

If it's kept at a steady temperature above 140F it should be fine.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 8 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Some guy falls asleep overnight and suddenly the whole inn is dead from botulism

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[–] rottingleaf 16 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Only should be really careful about lentils, peas, anything that sticks to the bottom.

Cabbage is good. Beef is good. Potatoes are good. Carrots - make it go bad a bit faster when not on fire. Same with peas. And of course with onions it'll go bad very fast.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Carrots - make it go bad a bit faster when not on fire.

Don't really know why carrots would make it go bad faster, but the point of a perpetual stew is to never stop cooking it. The fire is always on.

[–] dejected_warp_core 8 points 3 weeks ago

It's the sugars in those vegetables. It turns the pot into a bacterial growth medium. Given enough time, something is going to survive that environment. Maybe it'll be probiotic, but most likely, it won't.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Learned that this was a thing in kingdom come: deliverance :D

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[–] JusticeForPorygon 10 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

So we're germs like an issue with this? Or was it okay because it was always kept heated? I mean, obviously they theu didn't know about germs in the middle ages, but they still woulda been there.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago

The constant heat and the constant turnover of food/water keep it food-safe

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

As long as it is always kept hot then it shouldn't be any problem at all. It can never be allowed to cool for very long though.

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[–] AkatsukiLevi 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Perpetual stew of temporary blindness!

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