One woman is serving her community steamy content with a “perpetual stew” that’s gone viral on TikTok.
On 7 June, Annie Rauwerda posted the start of her one-pot journey that would attract millions of people online and in-person begging for a bit after 40 days of nonstop cooking.
The creator of the Depths of Wikipedia account on TikTok and Instagram channeled “medieval behavior” when she set out to make the “perpetual stew” on her own, after coming across the definition of the dish on Wikipedia.
“Known as a 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 liquid are replenished as necessary,” a description on the search engine read.
Rauwerda declared the season “perpetual stew summer” as she continues to welcome the many people lined up on her block in Bushwick, Brooklyn to taste the hot concoction and add their own ingredients to the mix. The knowledge junkie celebrates 18 July as the 40th consecutive day the stew’s been simmering.
According to the Today report, the concept of “perpetual stew” assumes different forms across varying cultures. British historian Reay Tannahill explained how “midieval peasants” never dumped out the contents of their cauldrons if it wasn’t Lenten season, the 40 day stretch where they gave up meat for lent. All the food in the cauldron was either added to or eaten over a fire that never went out.
Meanwhile, Poland natives were the first to recreate the concoction during the 14th century, adding fermented cabbage to their pots of “bigos” so the contents were preserved and could constantly be reheated.
Rauwerda has now adopted her own form of the consequential dish, posting daily updates on her TikTok page, on her website www.perpetualstew.club, and encouraging people to join her for “stew parties” in the neighborhood for “stew o’clock” which is 7pm ET.
When asked if the Crock-pot of food is actually good, the chef said, “it depends on the day”. In terms of the stew being safe for consumption, Rauwerda is fairly confident it is.
On the website, she explained: “It should be. We keep the stew cooking at a boiling temp at all times and we also cycle (eat) the stew out throughout the week so ingredients aren’t in there for too long. At the event, I stand next the the stew to vet all additions. Perpetual stews have simmered for years on end.”
The stew is both vegan and vegetarian. Rauwerda encourages her followers to bring any kind of ingredient they think will add flavour except for meat products.
“I’ve got a potato leek simmering in the Crockpot and it feels like the first day of the rest of my life,” the excited woman noted on the first day of her cooking journey.
Over the past few weeks, the concoction has consumed loads of different contents from lentils and carrots, bean sprouts, barley and spice mix, to endives and cascatelli.
While most fans have showed up with viable ingredients, a few risktakers have come up with questionable additions.
Rauwerda admitted she’s been approached with frozen raspberries, grapes, and bird’s eye chilli. Speaking with Today.com, the head chef said: “Someone brought frozen raspberries and I was like, ‘Oh, thank you. I’ll make a smoothie this week or something,’ and they were like, ‘No, no — it’s for the stew.’”
The creator didn’t think she would attract as many people with her obscure project when she started it. “I think the concept alone is pretty charming, the idea of things continuing. I feel that lately, especially where people can find community when you’re in your 20s,” she remarked.
“I think that coming out of quarantine we were all feeling a little bit socially stunted. We’re living in a time where the internet and so much of social life is online, so it feels kind of special and unique to have an in-person gathering.”
“I first learned about the ‘perpetual stew’ concept back in the throes of quarantine when community events, let alone communal pots of stew, seemed like utopian fantasies,” Rauwerda continued.
“I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I want to do that,’ which is also how I felt about preposterous-yet-possible Wikipedia articles like dishwasher salmon and extreme ironing and bog snorkelling and squirrel fishing.”
Though Rauwerda stumbled upon the recipe three years ago, “perpetual stews” have been boiling in New York restaurants for quite some time.
Prior to closing in 2015, Louro, a West Village staple, crafted their own one-pot wonder and kept it cooking for two years. Additionally, renowned chef Enrique Olvera has been adding to his “perpetual mole madre” for about 2,800 days. Across the globe, Wattana Panich, a restaurant in Bangkok, has been crafting their stew for over 45 years, beginning in the ‘70s.
