Filed under: spoon
The vagabond was so hungry his stomach wasn’t just grumbling it was calling obscenities.
He finally arrived at a small village and began to ask the villagers for food. But the hungry villagers turned him away because they didn’t have enough to feed their families. It was hardtimes for everyone.
The resourceful vagabond gathered some wood and started a bonfire in the middle of town, then he got a big pot of water on to boil while he fished out what appeared to be a large stone. The villagers watched as this strange man tossed this curious stone into the water. They began to gather around the spectacle.
The vagabond drew a laddleful of the steaming liquid to his lips and tasted it and smacked his lips in satisfaction. The villagers began to drool.
“This sure is delicious rock soup, “ the Vagabond announced “but it could use some carrots, if anyone would like to share this soup, they can add some carrots.” A small boy ran off and came back with some scraggly carrots he was saving. They tossed them in, and after a quick taste it was decided it could use a few more ingredients. The villagers dashed away and pulled up floor boards to reveal their secret stashes. Before long a line had formed of people eager to share the tantalizing StoneWater soup.
No one in the village went hungry that day and they all learned a valuable lesson about coming together as a community.
To make your own sock soup at home, serve your guests a large bowl of plain old chicken or vegetable stock (with or without a stone), fill your table with small bowls of pre-cooked ingredients from each catagory so people can pass them around and create their own customrock soup… just remember to take out the rock or people will be sending you their dental bill.
Here are some suggestions for things to have to customize your simple stock. Give it a community vibe by having people bring one or two ingredients from the list and make sure you have at least two from each catagory.
VEGETABLES
grated carrots sauteed mushrooms grilled eggplant
fried zucchini cubbed roast parsnips roasted celeriac
balsamic fried onions grated beets
STARCHES
cooked raviolis cooked tortellinis boiled potatoes
steamed rice diced roast squash mashed potatoes
PROTEINS
cooked chicken breast sliced ham meatballs
grilled prawns pepperoni stick, chopped hard-boiled eggs
SAUCES AND AROMATICS
pesto good olive oil hot sauce
lemon juice a splash of wine sliced green onions
fresh parsley grated garlic sliced chillis
shaved red onion
10 Comments so far
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LOL. I have fallen for your drawings and lovely way of story telling. I mean, recipe telling.
Good job. I would make your stone soup with the prime addition of squiggly carrots anytime.
Comment by Eunice November 7, 2008 @ 4:18 pmI love these illustrations….they caught my eye on tastespotting!
Comment by Stacey Snacks November 7, 2008 @ 4:25 pmThis is a great idea. It seems like a really fun kind of party idea!
Comment by Fearless Kitchen November 7, 2008 @ 5:03 pmI loved that story when I was little!
And I never tire of soup – I can have it year round!
Comment by biz319 November 7, 2008 @ 5:10 pmi’m in love with your site, especially the drawings. this was my favorite story as a child.
wonderful.
Comment by jen November 7, 2008 @ 10:04 pmNice illustrations! Here in Portugal, in the region of Almeirim we have a traditional soup called “rock soup” in portuguese: Sopa da Pedra
Comment by Moira November 7, 2008 @ 10:25 pmIs not the same recipe, but the story reminded me that soup with everything inside (carrots, beans, potatos, turnips, white cabbage, porc, and so on…)
Regards from Lisbon
What a fantastic and refreshingly different food blog!
Comment by Melissa November 8, 2008 @ 6:16 amI just fell upon your site…I was happy to do so.love the rock soup….LOL
Comment by laughlivemedia November 8, 2008 @ 4:48 pmFound your site through Tastespotting. And, aren’t I tickled?
Comment by Brooke November 9, 2008 @ 1:03 amYou’ve got yourself a purely delightful little romp. I’ll come back regularly to oogle and marvel and awe at your talent. THANKS!
I have always loved this story. If soup is a way of getting the most out of ingredients, then sharing food is a way to get the best out of people.
Comment by Erik November 11, 2008 @ 8:39 pm