A beautifully written meditation on perpetual stew, “a way of cooking and a metaphor for life,” and also a TikTok craze. As John Devore explores famous influencer stews, he reflects on his own “mouthbone soup” and the ways food can anchor us when everything else feels uncertain.
The days when the mouthbone soup wasn’t squatting over one of the back burners and burbling away were too quiet. During these lulls, I’d wonder when it was time for the next batch. Mouthbone soup had become a coping mechanism. A magic potion. The first line of defense against the plague.
I once proposed we keep it going, just leave the pot on the blue flame—a stew god to feed the night’s Peking duck leftovers. Think of the money we’d save, I argued. Imagine: waking up late at night for a tasty snack! Just dip a ladle into a bottomless pot of broth, and Mmmm.
This idea was considered and then forgotten. But I remember.
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