Forester's Broth
Forester's broth or forester's soup is a wood elven peasant dish developed in the Eldar Wood of southern Scalados. It is made from a combination of foraged and farmed vegetation, including spring onions, leeks, Calendula leaves, wild Orlondë, and edible flowers.
History
Forester's broth is one of the oldest culinary traditions of Scalados, with stories and legends from as early as the Age of Anxiety mentioning it.
Execution
Forester's broth is a type of perpetual stew that sits over a hearth or campfire for years, even decades, with additional food added periodically over time. A pot of forester's broth always starts with a smooth river rock and a prayer to Dagda, god of the hearth and field. In extremely dire situations, it is said that the stone from a hundred-year-old pot of forester's broth (known as a Zúpasar) can be taken out and used to cure a deadly illness or resurrect a member of the household that brewed the soup. If the stone is removed from the soup at any time, the entire pot must be drained and restarted.
Commonly added ingredients include flavorful foraged herbs (such as ramps and leeks), grains like wild Orlond-grass, and root or garden vegetables. It is typically a vegetarian dish, though frequent hunters will sometimes add the meat or bones from game birds (such as dove or quail) to the broth. Frequent addition of Calendula (both its fresh leaves and its ground flowers) is believed to maintain the health of the household and protect it from Fey tricksters. When served to guests or on special occasions, it is considered good luck to garnish the soup with squash blossoms, chamomile, wood sorrel, or marigolds.
Observance
Forester's broth is common across rural areas of Scalados. Famous variants are found in the Oddwaters (whose forester's broth tends to have a sweet-spicy flavor profile that includes turmeric and Malletok) and the Wailë-Lands (where a new pot is started each time a caravan moves to a new site, keeping only the cauldron and stone from each batch).
Stews always taste better when served a second time. So I find your idea fascinating, a soup that can be eaten for years. But what I still don't quite understand is that the stone keeps the soup from spoiling? If so, does the stone need to be a certain size and what makes the stone so special?
Perpetual stews actually exist in real life! According to Wikipedia there are a few in Asia that have been cooking for over 50 years. I'm not sure exactly, but I'd guess that mold and bacteria can't grow in something that's always cooking. Plus, it's always being added to and served from, so no one carrot is in there for too long. The stone is more of a ritual object than anything... although perhaps an object surrounded by so much faith and love for so long would hold the magic of the hearth god, after all.