- Annie Rauwerda is getting attention on TikTok for making a batch of "perpetual stew."
- Perpetual stew is a medieval dish wherein a pot of soup cooks nonstop and is replenished as it's eaten.
Annie Rauwerda is documenting her experience making a medieval soup called "perpetual stew," and TikTok is eating it up.
Perpetual stew is made by constantly simmering and continuously replenishing the ingredients of a single batch of stew.
According to How Stuff Works, what makes this 14th century Polish stew unique is that it's often "skimmed and strained, leaving behind only dark, rich broth."
Consumers of the stew get to taste the complex flavor profile left behind by all of the different ingredients that have been added during its different iterations.
Rauwerda's stew journey began in June when she posted a video announcing she would be making it on her TikTok, @depthsofwikipedia. Rauwerda also runs an Instagram account of the same name, where she posts screenshots of oddities she's found on the popular site to an audience of more than one million followers.
@depthsofwikipedia more medieval behavior!
♬ original sound - Annie Rauwerda
"More medieval behavior!" she captioned the TikTok, which has more than 327,000 views and 35,000 likes.
"I've always wanted to do it. I'm finally doing it. It's perpetual stew summer," Rauwerda proclaimed in the video.
Rauwerda did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In the video, she shows the Crockpot that will house the stew and says she has invited friends over to add their ingredients to the concoction. In order to maintain food safety, How Stuff Works advises keeping the soup "around 200 degrees Fahrenheit" at all times.
In a follow-up video two days later, Rauwerda proved that her friends made good on their promise to add to the stew.
@depthsofwikipedia come get your random community juice!!!!!!!!!message me if you want to come to the next ones
♬ NFL on FOX Theme - Soundtrack Guru
With the "NFL on Fox" theme song playing in the background, she showed clips of her friends and the various ingredients they brought. These ingredients included: a clove of garlic, a bunch of carrots, a potato, a bunch of parsley, and some onions, to name a few.
On the fourth day of the perpetual stew, Rauwerda updated her more than 171,000 followers by letting them know that dill was "overpowering the flavor."
Six days into the stew's simmering, Rauwerda hosted a gathering at a park in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood where strangers could add to the concoction as well as try the now-famous stew.
@depthsofwikipedia ♬ The Bug Collector
She advertised with fliers, and people showed up with food in-hand.
According to a TikTok after the meet-up, Rauwerda said about 50 people came and ate the stew and that she was even recognized at the grocery story as "stew girl."
Since then, Rauwerda has hosted two more stew parties on the 10th and 17th day of cooking.
Her most recent stew update was Friday, day 30, where Rauwerda hosted another event where she passed out T-shirts and even had an attendee named Stu who she dubbed the "guest of honor."
@depthsofwikipedia help i’ve committed to the bit and i cant get up!
♬ Surf music that feels summer - SKUNK
Rauwerda has even created a website dedicated to chronicling her stew.
The site includes the number of days the stew has been cooking, a daily breakdown of its progress, and quotes from people who have tried a bowl of the now-famous stew.
"This stew changed every aspect of my entire life," a taste-tester named Tessa Bury said, according to the site.