Editorial: Pebble stew

Two men were walking down the road and both were feeling extremely hungry. Neither of them had even a single centavo with which to buy food, so one of the men reached into his pocket and pulled out a pebble.

“Then we shall prepare some pebble stew” he said.

“Pebble stew” the other replied. “What is that?”

“Have you never had pebble stew before?” enquired the first man.

“No” replied the other.

“Then I shall show you how to prepare it. You get off and fetch some water” he said, handing him a pan, “and I will stay here to make a fire on which to cook it.”

The second man went off to fetch water and returned a short time later with the pan.

“Now let us sit down and wait” he said.

As the two of them sat there watching the water boil, a passing stranger stopped to enquire what they were coocking.

“Pebble stew” came the reply.

“Pebble stew?” enquired the stranger. “What is that?”

“Have you never had pebble stew before?” the first man ask the stranger.

“No” said the stranger.

“Well if you have some ingredients that you would like to add to the pan you would be most welcome to join us and share the stew when it is ready.”

“I have some carrots” said the stranger.

“That will do” came the reply. “Add them to the pan and sit down with us until the meal is cooked.”

The stranger did as he was told and sat down besides the other two. A short time later another stranger happened by.

“What are you cooking?” he ask.

“Pebble stew” was once more the reply.

“Pebble stew?” Said the man. “What is that?”

Once more it was explained to him that if he had ingredients which he would like to add then he was more than welcome to share the stew. As it happened he had with him some potatoes, so he too put these into the pan and sat down to wait.

And so it continued with each passer-by stoping to enquire, adding ingredients to the pot, and then sitting down to wait, until there were at least a dozen people gathered around the fire. When the stew was finally cooked it was not only delicious, but there was more than enough to feed them all.

Try this recipe. Start with good idea, add to this your energy and enthusiasm, and just see where it leads. You might just find that what you end up with is pebble stew!/TE