But when we posted these bone broth articles on Twitter, we noticed an unusual response in our stream of notifications. Any time a tweet included the phrase “bone broth,” an account called The Stock Stickler replied instantly, writing, “That’s also called stock.” It’s a disarmingly calm response for a social network that’s known for bubbling fonts of vitriol. That’s also called stock. A touch pedantic, perhaps, but not angry or impassioned in the slightest. A look at the Stickler’s profile page revealed more of the same, literally: Nearly 20,000 tweets containing the same simple phrase over and over again to accounts of all kinds. MORE: The Truth about Bone Broth We had to know: Who—or what—is the Stock Stickler? A few inquiring tweets to the account yielded a response from Max Falkowitz, senior features editor at Serious Eats. (I’d apparently missed Deadspin’s earlier mention of the Stickler–Serious Eats connection.) Turns out the Stickler is a Twitter bot, coded to spit out its catchphrase in reply to all tweets that include the words “bone broth.” It was born of frustration, Falkowitz told me, namely, the fact that bone broth enthusiasts had simply slapped a new name on an age-old recipe. So I asked Falkowitz: Is the trendsetter’s beloved bone broth really just plain ol’ stock and nothing more? “In broad culinary terms, stock is made with more bones than meat, with mild seasoning for greater versatility,” he wrote back. “Broth is made with more meat than bones, and often more flavorings, for more specific applications.” And, just like stock, recipes for “bone broth” call for more bones than meat. Under this definition, Falkowitz says, “stock” and “bone broth” basically mean the same thing. Or, in the words of the Stock Stickler: That’s also called stock. MORE: 10 Superfoods You’re Not Eating Still, whether this stuff is stock, bone broth, or some newfangled hybridization of the two, it’s all some variety of delicious, salty meat water. No matter what you want to call it, we’ll be sipping it—but probably as far away from a Twitter feed as we can get.
