the stew i keep changing

2026 · 03

There's a stew I've been making on and off for over a year and I don't think two batches have ever been the same. Started as a real recipe, printed out, gone soft and stained and shoved in a drawer. Haven't looked at the page in months.

First few times I followed it exactly and it was fine. A bit flat. Then one Saturday the market had good leeks so those went in. Another time I left it a lot longer on a low heat than the page said, a couple of hours instead of one, and it was better for it. The kind of thing that tastes like it took all day because it did.

Now it's mostly made up. Whatever roots the market has, a bay leaf if I remember the bay leaf, a splash of something sharp at the end. I've stopped trying to get it right and just taste as I go. Obvious, and it took me a stupidly long time to actually start doing it.

M. says it's never the same twice and that's the whole point. Some weeks it's watery, some weeks it's practically a paste. This week's landed somewhere in the middle and we had it two nights running.