D&D General Sandwiches should exist in your fantasy world!

[Shades of Eternity]

Since this is somewhat of a food thread, I need to ask.

How perpetual is perpetual stew?

 

[KYRON45]

So a club sandwich is really a cake?

This is brilliant!!!

 

[Steampunkette]

Since this is somewhat of a food thread, I need to ask.

How perpetual is perpetual stew?

Once I finish writing up the magic item for A5e, absolutely perpetual. It never runs out. It also won't digest. Or decay.

THE WORLD WILL DROWN IN PERPETUAL STEW!

 

[Umbran]

Goulash and chili are both generally considered stews and -- outside of modern variants that use ground beef in the case of chili -- typically start with tougher cuts ("stew beef") that's softened over time.

So the express intent of those two stews, which use stew beef, is to make the tough, inexpensive beef easier to eat.

Well, what we now call chili started as pemmican - which was a mixture of dried meat, tallow, and sometimes berries and spices. Less about making fresh cuts of meat easier to eat, and more about how Native Americans reserved meats.

 

[Charlaquin]

Thus, the -process- of thickening the stew is what makes it stewed, rather than the final result being homogenous across multiple dishes each labeled "Stew": Taking the lid off or otherwise letting the steam out to intensify the flavor of what is left behind.

Yeah, that’s what I said - it’s the cooking technique that makes the difference.

 

[Steampunkette]

Yeah, that’s what I said - it’s the cooking technique that makes the difference.

Specifically, though: Lid off!

 

[Bedrockgames]

Well, what we now call chili started as pemmican - which was a mixture of dried meat, tallow, and sometimes berries and spices. Less about making fresh cuts of meat easier to eat, and more about how Native Americans reserved meats.

There are a lot of youtube videos in my feed on Pemmican

 

[Charlaquin]

Since this is somewhat of a food thread, I need to ask.

How perpetual is perpetual stew?

Theoretically? Indefinite. You can keep a soup or stew going for as long as you have ingredients to replace what you eat and heat to keep them simmering. In actual practice, there’s a pretty high risk of foodborn illness if you keep it gong for too long.

 

[Charlaquin]

Specifically, though: Lid off!

Eh, there are both soups and stews that are made covered, partially-covered, and uncovered. There are also both soups and stews made stovetop, in the oven, and in various specialized appliances like slow cookers and pressure cookers. I think the most significant difference is that soups are usually made with the solid ingredients fully submerged in the liquid and stews are usually made with the solid ingredients either just covered or partially covered in the liquid.

Really though, language is for communication. The ultimate test is, would someone be confused if you asked them to bring you a bowl of “that soup/stew” in reference to it.

 

[Tonguez]

Fantastical settings aside, like punkette mentioned, a lot of food types we're familiar now weren't available necessarily at the time we pop-culture think they would be. What was common, and plausible to have in any one's fantasy game, were cultural needs for foods that were portable and could keep, whether that happened to come as something on a stick, wrapped, encased in, laid on top of and so on.

What I've found cool is noting what ingredients different cultures came up with, traded for or adopted from others to address those particular concerns, esp. when they happened to live in similar climates or places like islands, floodplains, mountains, etc. I find all that amazing just generally.

a few years ago, on this very site we had an amusing discussion about Italian Spaghetti as being derived from Chinese Noodles enhanced with Mexican Tomatoes and thus a fully international meal