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["Greg Mayman" <gmone AT tpg.com.au>]

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:18:12 +0000 (UTC), sindi keesan wrote:

> Stone soup?  How big is a billy?

A billy-can (aka 'billy') is a cylindrical metal container with a
looped wire handle at the top. Capacities vary, but 2 to 4 litres
would be typical.

The wire handle allows it to be suspended over an open fire.

The 'stone soup' I know of is quite different.

A traveller wanting a meal picked up a stone from the roadside
and approached a nearby farmhouse where he asked to borrow a pot
so he could cook himself some stone soup.

The farmer had never heard of this and invited him in to make it
over their kitchen fire so they could see how it was done.

The traveller filled a pot with water and placed it on the fire.
he then put his stone in the pot and boiled it for several
minutes. On tasting it, he said: "Yes, it's coming on, but it
wants something to spice it up. Could I have one of your
turnips?"

Thje farmer's wife cut up the turnip and put it in the pot. After
another ten minutes, the traveller asked if he could have the
bones left on the table from where the farmer and his wife had
eaten their meal. He put them in the pot as well.

Seeing some rice in a sack, he asked if he could add some of that
to thicken the soup.

After about an hour of boiling, the traveller tatsed it and
pronounced it done. He offered a taste to the farmer and his
wife, who were astonished at how tasty a simple piece of
limestone could, when properly prepared!

.   ,-./\
.  /     \     from Greg Mayman, in Adelaide, South Australia
.  \_,-*_/     "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E
.       v