A hungry traveller comes to a farm house and tries to get a free meal. This is not easy and the traveller will need all his social skills to get a meal. Tired, hours on the road and hungry he nonetheless starts out the conversation with the woman at the farmhouse with small talk. When he finally gets around to asking for the pot and explaining about how he will make stone soup he does so in the way of a performer — “If you will lend me a small pot,” said the Traveler, “I’ll show you.”
There are many versions of the stone soup story and because he is a perfect performer the stone soup story always ends up on a happy note.
The traveler, the tramp, the soldier, whoever it is who needs to eat but only has a stone knows how to entertain! And the soup is always so good!
uli,
Aug 4, 5:59am
Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. Then the travellers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavour, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help them out, so that gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.
In the Portuguese tradition, the traveller is a monk and the story takes place around Almeirim, Portugal. Nowadays many restaurants in Almeirim serve stone soup, or sopa de pedra. Almeirim is considered the capital of stone soup.[citation needed]
In the French and Hungarian versions of the tale, the travellers are soldiers: three returning home from the Napoleonic Wars play the role in the former, and a single, starving one, who encounters several hardships on his journey back to his homeland, is depicted in the latter.
The story is most commonly known as nail soup in Scandinavian and Northern European countries. In these versions, the main character is typically a tramp looking for food and lodgings, who convinces an old woman that he will make nail soup for the both of them if she would just add a few ingredients for the garnish. In Eastern Europe the variation of the story (having more in common with the Northern European rendition) is called axe soup, with an axe being the catalyst.
uli,
Aug 4, 6:02am
When it [the soup] was finished, the kind hostess, who had watched the operation with some anxiety, and from time to time longed to taste the soup, was indulged. She found it excellent. She had never before tasted any that was so good. She produced all the edibles her cottage afforded; and spreading her table, she, with the Traveller, made a hearty meal, of which the stone soup formed the principal part.
Upon taking his leave, in recompense for her kindness to him the traveller gives her the stone, which she had carefully washed, and the story proceeds.
The poor woman could hardly set any bounds on her gratitude; and she and the Traveller parted highly satisfied with each other.
Proud of this discovery, she, in general terms, mentioned it to her neighbors. By this means the recipe was promulgated; and it was in the course of many experiments at length found, that other pebbles would make as good soup as that in her possession.
The viand now became fashionable through the Canton, and was indeed so generally approved, as to find its way to most of the peasants’ tables, where stone stoup used frequently be served as the first dish.
So teach your kids how to make stone soup before they leave home and they will never be hungry :)
samanya,
Aug 4, 7:27am
"Social skills" & how valuable they are in everyday life, is what stood out to me.
addington261,
Aug 4, 10:43am
Thanks for the Stone Soup stories . My son and I were talking about it last night.
jan2242,
Aug 4, 10:48pm
My son loved this story when he was little.
uli,
Aug 5, 5:21am
I loved it too - I heard it first as an adult.
I can just imagine how someone goes "what? - STONE soup? " how do you make that :) .
lenart,
Aug 5, 11:00pm
I used to love it too and now it is ruined :) I thought that it was unique to our culture :) We called it "soup from the axe". Make it on a regular basis, but the recipe changes every time :)
uli,
Aug 6, 5:42am
Sorry to have "ruined it" for you lenart.
I must admit that I find the whole of this message board "ruined".
There used to be over 300 threads here for the year - now we are back to just over 60 and lots of them just get bumped because of 1 or 2 (maybe) "useful" recipes.
No one seems to want to learn to cook anymore - all the new threads I have seen started in the last month were simple questions which could have been answered by Mr Google just as well or better.
All the really interesting collections like the crock pot thread and many others have vanished and the general feeling here is one of giving up cooking and how can we use simmer sauces and generally just "assemble half cooked foods" from the supermarket.
Pretty boring I find. Where has that teeming cooking community gone in my 3 years absence?
vmax2,
Aug 6, 5:53am
Didn't realise it was 3 years uli. You need to inspire everyone. Lots of people today sadly have different priorities and packet stuff from the supermarket which is zapped in the microwave is their limit on cooking. Then they go on health and beauty puzzled as to why they are sick.
rainrain1,
Aug 6, 6:13am
Well I think you are wrong, there are some very busy hard working people, who haven't always got the time to cook 'stone soup' every night of the week. But when they have the time and the dinner parties, they like to turn on as good a meal as the next person, and to try something different, there are many clever cooks about. The store bought packet food is often a life saver for busy mothers, and some of them taste very good. My family love to cook, and very good at it too
samanya,
Aug 6, 6:20am
It's only boring for those who know everything. People come here to ask advice & often they are met with ridicule & sarcasm. How do you think people who want to learn how to cook & ask for help, feel? I've been here for a number of years & I can honestly say that I have a huge collection of recipes, printed off & some have become firm favourites & nary a packet in sight! Some people don't have the advantage of parents/grandparents who taught them how to make interesting , healthy food. Maybe those that did, were not interested, at the time. If it's so boring . why are you bothering to post so many threads?
kay141,
Aug 6, 7:21am
I agree. I read but seldom post on some boards. Can't be bothered with the bickering, nit-picking an know-it-alls. Too many just looking for an argument, as some previous posts show, and they spoil it for all.
As for the "stone' soup story, it is very old. I heard it from my great-grandmother.
awoftam,
Aug 6, 7:34am
I disagree. I love cooking, cook from scratch and find the recipes on here great. I don't think I have ever seen a recipe recommended using 'simmer sauce'.
A message board is for all to enjoy, and new people (like me) will come through all the time. How they are treated will determine whether they stay, and grow, or leave.
Cheers.
sampa,
Aug 6, 7:57am
Don't despair lenart, it's a well known - and loved - fable (as in a story that has a moral and this one is as relevant today as it was when it began). The fact that it is told in many ways in many regions simply condones its worthiness. we all need to have a 'stone soup' kind of ideology if we want to be sharing members of a community, concerned for others along the way. In modern terms the story is a bit like a message board - will we share with the person that fronts with only a 'stone' on offer? Or will we close our doors in their face and refuse to try something new and accept other points of view?
Ultimately one will benefit the greater good.
Happy soup eating.
samanya,
Aug 7, 5:38am
I agree. (I'm a 'slow' cook as well . mostly from scratch, & very occasionally a pkt of bought flavouring/spice mix. Better than take outs! I had an upsetting experience when I first dared to venture in recipes One of the zealots pounced & ridiculed my contribution & it took a bit of courage to stick my nose in again & I'm so pleased I did, I have learned such a lot & as I said ^^^ there, I have a collection of great recipes in a file that I enjoy regularly. My 14yr old vegetarian niece has requested that my vegetarian file be hers one day as she just loves the 'new' recipes I've made for her & I print her faves off for her. all from here. There's a huge amount of value/knowledge in this forum & as long as we don't allow ourselves to be cowed by the 'any way other than my way is wrong' types (fortunately very few). it's all good. Cheers.
That was good of you, uli. Some NZers may not have known the story & a lot of us would have. as a lot of our forebears came from Europe . even if they married 'locals' it still filtered down through the generations & that's good.
mitzi502,
Aug 7, 11:29am
We were told this as a bed-time story and it was a tramp who came to the door. i didn't know it was so wide-spread. Thank You ull. Having a trip down memory lane now.
nauru,
Aug 7, 12:23pm
Well said awoftam. I too love cooking, always from scratch using fresh produce and I never use convenience sauces etc. There are lots of people who like to and do cook and use bought sauces and convenience foods. This does not mean they don't know how to cook, probably they are too busy and time poor, it's all part & parcel of a busy family lifestyle these days and as someone else said "much better than take out food". There are still some great recipes and hints posted but sadly there are others who tend to ridicule if they disagree with other peoples tastes etc. and think their way is the only way to cook and eat. This treatment puts many off posting and sadly the message board is not what it used to be for this reason. Come on everyone, lets make it a happy place to spend a little time again.
raloki,
Jan 17, 3:46pm
Thanks for sharing this story. I am one who has never heard it before, so I have learnt something new today. I also enjoy cooking, mostly from scratch, and taught my three sons all how to cook. Tend to mostly read on the message board though than post.
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