The Stone Soup – Almeirim

It is said that a beggar friar, with his stomach empty, has been refused a meal by remedied farmers. With the ingenuity that the hunger gave him, the friar shrugged his shoulders, looked at the ground and chose the most beautiful of the stones that he found there and exclaimed:

– I’ll see if I make a little stone soup!

The peasants looked at each other and burst out laughing, but when they saw the friar carefully cleaning the stone and looking at it as if they were of the quality of the broth, they were curious as to what the monk noticed.

– Then they never ate a stone broth. It is a very good thing.

Between the fun and the curious, the farmers answered him:

– We really want to see this.

That was what the friar wanted to hear. He washed the stone carefully and asked:

– If you lent me a pan, I would do it right now.

They could not miss such a novelty, and the woman ran for the requested pan. The monk put the stone there and filled the earthenware pot with water. He looked around and asked.

– If you let the pan go to the bottom of the coals, it would heat the broth.

The pan was placed on embers and the friar began to stir.

– A little piece of lard should give it a good taste …

Already trapped by the experience they attended, the farmers soon presented him with a piece of bacon that was placed in the broth.

The water began to sizzle from the boil. The friar tasted the broth and made a smack:

– It is a little insane. Is not there a little salt pebble?

The salt quickly appeared, was placed in the broth, and made new proof.

– Now with a cabbage eye, it will taste that even the angels would eat it

The woman went to the vegetable garden and in time appeared with as many tender cabbages. The friar ripped them and put the leaves in the broth, stirring.

When the cabbages began to get cooked, the religious decided to continue trying is luck.

– Now, with a loaf of chorizo, that would have been another grace.

The chorizo ​​appeared and was put in the broth. The friar takes from his bag a piece of bread that was still there and, with all the wandering of the world, prepared to eat. A mouthful of mouthwatering scent.

The friar was delighted with the meal and ate until he was satisfied, licking his lips as the broth was so tasty.

In the pan, only the stone remained. The peasants, who did not take their eyes off the meal, asked:

– Oh, dear friar, what about the stone?

– I wash the stone and take it with me for another time.

The Stone Soup (Sopa da Pedra, as it’s called in Portuguese, is a tradicional meal of Almeirim)