Stone Soup
Source of Recipe
Legend
List of Ingredients
Once upon a time, somewhere in Eastern Europe, there was a great famine.
People jealously hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from
their friends and neighbors.
One day a peddler drove his wagon into a village, sold a few of his wares,
and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "Better keep
moving on."
"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making
some stone soup to share with all of you."
He pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a
fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone
from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.
By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come to the
square or watched from their windows. As the peddler sniffed the "broth" and
licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.
"Ahh," the peddler said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone
soup. Of course, stone soup with CABBAGE -- that's hard to beat."
Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a cabbage he'd retrieved from
its hiding place, and added it to the pot.
"Capital!" cried the peddler. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage
and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was
fit for a king."
The village butcher managed to find some salt beef...and so it went, through
potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a
delicious meal for all.
The villagers offered the peddler a great deal of money for the magic stone,
but he refused to sell and traveled on the next day.
And from that time on, long after the famine had ended, they reminisced
about the finest soup they'd ever had.
At a stone soup party each guest/couple would bring one or two ingredients
that go into soup. The host/hostess can be
responsible for the stock, whether it is vegetable or meat.
We have done this with absolutely no instructions to anyone as to what to
bring and rarely do we get duplicate ingredients. And, if we do, that is
part of the fun. As each guest/couple arrives they put their ingredients
into the pot. And, you let it cook until you are ready to eat.
Typical ingredients are mushrooms, onions, potatoes, beans, corn, squash,
tomatoes, garlic, soup pasta, cabbage,
celery, bok choy, leeks, turnips, ... ANYTHING.
Recipe
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