#9. Happily Stewing
It goes without saying—but here I go saying it—that stew is better the second day than the first
The ingredients of stew are stalwarts, and have existed for a long, long time. It has a familiar feel about it. I know ancestors in my family tree that I never met, did the same peeling, chopping and browning, glugging of wine, and simmering to feed great-great-great relatives.
It’s something my soul knows that my modern-day human brain registers as a warm flicker, near my heart. This is the overlapping of past and present for a brief moment. I can’t get more scientific than saying it warms me. It blooms in my chest and tingles my fingertips. Same as when I work with rustic, farm yarns. There’s a soft whisper that says “you’ve been here before” and “welcome back.” A returning of muscle memory from before I was a twinkle in my mother’s eye. Then the noise from the present shakes this feeling away, slipping off my shoulders like a wool blanket and pooling at my feet as I step back into modern life.
Stew is a culinary gift but you don’t need to be culinarily gifted to make it. But I feel kind of witchy, stirring the brownish, muttering liquid in our favourite second-hand cast iron pot. I wait for the perfect simmer so I can clap on the sturdy lid and send it into the oven for the final two hours. I wield my wooden spoon like a wand, rereading recipe lines like enchantments.
Stew won’t be rushed into being, and you won’t be rushed into eating. First, because it will be too hot, but as you let the flavour settle on your tongue, you’ll slow down to stew speed, anyhow, because it is that good.
“Pile me on”, says stew, “and lick the bowl clean, anything less in an insult and please don’t be fancy about it.”
I could make and eat stew once a week (not counting leftover day). I really fancy lamb stew, but can also make a good enough beef stew, but it’s got little to do with me. It’s the magic of ingredients coming together, and with a generous serving of time, I find myself under its spell, again and again.
Perhaps this week you’ll have the chance to stew. Only good things can come of it!
Warmly,
Kaitlyn