There's no point denying it: stew is magic. A little water, a little fire, a little "whatever", the right seasonings, and automatically a meal emerges that would let us fight a dinosaur after a plate or two. However, I learned that some cooks try to extend that magic indefinitely, adopting the strategy of the "perpetual stew". The idea is to load the pot whenever necessary, maintaining an adequate level of liquids, and many texts speak of stews that have survived for decades…
On May 6, 1981, The New York Times published an article by freelance writer Arthur Prager. In that text, he talks about his pot-au-feu, which he has kept in excellent condition for 21 years. Now, pot-au-feu is nothing more than a "pot on the fire", one of the purest definitions of a French stew... but 21 years? Prager goes so far as to say that his specimen was the oldest in the New York area (and even "from the United States"), and adds some colorful details that we can only accept with a grain of salt: among them, a "300-year-old" stew in Normandy, and another from Perpignan created in the 15th century, which did not survive World War II.
The Perpetual Stew: Cooking 'Forever'
In an attempt to find modern, verifiable examples, sources lead us to Bangkok, where a restaurant called Wattana Panich offers a "meat and noodle soup" kept for 50 years, and three generations of the same family. The owner explains that they take it off the fire every night, move a portion to another burner, clean the main pot, and the next day add ingredients and water, preserving the chain. As expected, the perpetual stew had its viral moment thanks to journalist and comedian Annie Rauwerda (creator of Depths of Wikipedia), who prepared one for 60 days between June and August 2023, with the collaboration of the public.
But if we try to identify the origin of the perpetual stew, all arrows point to the Middle Ages. Peasants, in an attempt to save time, kept the fire going day and night, and putting the stew on top was just an evolutionary leap. The only reason it was completely emptied was the observance of Lent, to remove the meat.
Needless to say, doubts about hygiene and food safety are inevitable, but today we have great advantages, and the perpetual stew continues to gain popularity in different regions.
Sources: The Independent, The New York Times, Business Insider, NPR, Wikipedia.
