This Soup Has Been Cooking For More Than 50 Years!

When it gets cold most people urn for a warm comfort food best known as a soup or stew. If you're from Louisiana we may refer to this as a Gumbo or a Sauce Piquant. There is also an old traditional soup or stew that some cultures never stop cooking. Literally!

This medieval soup is called many things, but the most common names for it are Perpetual Stew or Forever Soup. The name is exactly what it implies. People never stop cooking it! Some families have cooked the same soup continuously for three generations, and others have Perpetual Stew parties!

The pot is never or rarely emptied, and ingredients and liquid are replenished as necessary. The French call this stew/soup Pot-au-feu, meaning "pot on the fire." It is famous throughout that country, and there are several variations. It is slowly boiled with meat and vegetables, usually served in two courses: the broth (bouillon) and then the meat (bouilli) and vegetables.

This restaurant in Bangkok has been continuously cooking the same broth for over 50 years! Pot-au-feu was claimed by one writer to be maintained as a perpetual stew in Perpignan from the 15th century until World War II! Would you believe they only ran out because they had no way to replenish the soup due to the German occupation? Look at the videos below: