Stone Soup

After posting the cookbook link on Twitter, I realized you might want to see where the term "Stone Soup" comes from. It's an old European folktale that has been told in many countries and in many forms. Sometimes it's called "Nail Soup" because the main character uses a nail instead of a stone. Sometimes, as the picture below shows, the whole village gets involved instead of just one woman.

Here's the story, adapted from Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts.

A beggar knocked at the farmhouse door. "I can't let you in because my husband is not at home," said the woman who answered the door. "And I don't have anything to give you." Her voice showed that she did not like the beggar and wanted him to go away.

"If you don't have any food, then I could give you some of my soup stone," said the beggar. He pulled and ordinary-looking stone from his pocket.

"Soup stone?" said she, suddenly showing interest in the stranger.

"Oh yes," he said. "If I just had a potful of water and a fire, I'd show you how it works. This stone and boiling water make the best soup you've ever eaten. Your husband would thank you for the good supper, if you'd just let me in to show you how it works."

The woman's suspicions yielded to her desire for an easy meal, and she opened the door. She boiled a pot of water, the beggar dropped in his stone and then he tasted the boiling water. "It needs salt, and a bit of rice," he said.

"I have a little salt and rice," she said. She got it out of her cupboard and he put it into the pot. He tasted it again. "Much better!" he said. "But a good soup needs a few vegetables and potatoes. Do you have any?"

"Oh yes," she said, her enthusiasm for the miracle soup growing. She quickly found some potatoes, onions, carrots, and beans.

After the soup had boiled awhile, the man tasted it again. "It's almost done. The stone is working. A few pieces of meat and it would be perfect!"

The excited woman ran out to the yard and quickly killed a chicken. She plucked the feathers, cut up the meat, and put it into the pot.

When the meat had cooked, the woman filled a bowl for the beggar and for herself. They ate until they were full and there was still enough left for her husband.

The beggar thought the husband would be home soon, so stood up to leave and said, "Thank you for letting me use your pot and your fire." He took his stone from the bottom of the pot, licked it clean, and put it back into his pocket.

"Please come again," said the happy woman.

"I will indeed," said the beggar. Then he disappeared into the woods.