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I was surprised by the added stone in the soup of this question:

"Also, for irony, a large (cleaned) stone is always left in the pot"

What would be the reason for this? For the minerals in the stone? As far as I know, minerals do not infuse water directly out of a stone.

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In Denmark we have a fairy tale/folklore telling the story of a woman being fooled by a salesman showing how to cook soup on a stone. My guess is that - it is - for the irony. – Henrik Hansen Feb 8 '12 at 9:25
I guess it's customary and of no nutritional value, unless you're a lithovore – Mischa Arefiev Feb 8 '12 at 9:32
possibly to keep the stability of the pot when it is near empty so it won't easily move or tip over? Also stone does release "gases" as it heats up. – KMC Feb 8 '12 at 10:10
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Your education must have been lacking, the story of the stone soup is one the many classics young children are meant to have read to them by their parents so as to understand life. It appears in most cultures. A quick internet search will enlighten you! – TFD Feb 8 '12 at 10:26
The 'for irony' bit suggests it's tradition, based on the children's story Henrik Hansen mentions. – ElendilTheTall Feb 8 '12 at 11:57
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4 Answers

up vote 21 down vote accepted

There's an old children's story about making Stone Soup. In it, a penniless begger offers to teach people how to make his favorite recipe: soup, made from a stone! He boils some water and drops a stone in, and while it's "cooking", keeps mentioning offhand things like "It'd go great with some carrots" or "Celery would be lovely in this". The townspeople rush off and get celery, carrots, potatoes, onions, and the like to add to the soup, until eventually, they've made proper soup in his pot along with the stone. So basically, the whole "stone soup" thing was a clever con game by which the begger can eat for free (or, in kinder versions than the one I recall, to trick the townspeople into learning a lesson about sharing).

The stone adds nothing to the soup.

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I didn't know the story, so it's clear now. – BaffledCook Feb 8 '12 at 14:45
Here is a Jim Hansen version of the same story: (It's only part 1 I figure you can find the rest on your own) youtube.com/watch?v=xF8VgHb_HkI – Mallow Feb 8 '12 at 16:27
There is a similar story in Russian / Romanian culture, but it's about a soldier who makes soup of an axe. – FreeCandies Feb 8 '12 at 16:55
-1 Your summary is VERY wrong, it is not about a clever con, it about sharing and caring – TFD Feb 8 '12 at 20:17
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"The stone adds nothing to the soup." Unless it's rock salt! – Spice Sherpa Feb 9 '12 at 16:59
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up vote 10 down vote

The version of the story that many Americans know comes from the book Stone Soup, in which three weary soldiers enter a village and convince the suspicious villagers to share their supplies by showing them how to make soup from stones. A big pot, some water, and three smooth stones is all you need for the soup, but it's much better if you add vegetables, meat, some milk, salt and pepper, etc. In the book, the villagers end up putting on a great feast and having a wonderful time, and the implied lesson for children is that it's more fun to share what you have for everybody's benefit than to keep your cabbages and barley hidden in the cellar.

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up vote 6 down vote

I learned this trick from an old friend of my Grandmother more than 50 years ago. She put three rounded stones in the pot when cooking soup so they would move about and stop the vegetables and grains from settling and burning on the bottom of the pot. Molly did all of her cooking on a wood/coal fired oven. Many people of my Mother's generation used to put glass marbles in the pan when making Jams or conserves for the same reason.

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I've heard of people heating stones to put into the soup to heat the water. Thanks for the input Jerome. – BaffledCook Feb 9 '12 at 8:54
+1 for the only practical answer that doesn't involve a parable. – Carey Gregory Sep 7 '12 at 19:33
up vote 3 down vote

I imagine it comes from this.

Parable of Stone Soup

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