Brunswick Stew

Brunswick Stew WHO COOKED THAT UP?

J.J. wonders...

The story of Brunswick Stew is apt to provoke heated controversy in the American South because no less than three states claim to have given birth to the dish. It's a community thing in Brunswick in Georgia, Brunswick in North Carolina, or Brunswick County in Virginia. The name Brunswick itself came to America from the English King George II who granted lands to the colonists and whose ancestral home was in Braunsweig, Germany. Each American town or county named Brunswick (the English version of Braunsweig) claims the stew for its own, but the main controversy is between Virginia and Georgia with distinctly different recipes. However, there is one general agreement -- that originally the stew was made among country folk with wild game, most often with squirrel, and a similar stew might even have originated among native Americans before the colonists arrived.

The Virginians have the best story, and it has two variations, both of which are said to have taken place in 1828 or 1830 and concern a cook named Jimmy Matthews and a certain Dr. Creed Haskins of Brunswick County. In one version Dr. Haskins was part of a hunting party and his family cook, "Uncle" Jimmy Matthews, made the stew out of squirrel meat, onion and bread. In a different version, Dr. Haskins, who was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1839 to 1841, asked his cook, again Jimmy Matthews, to provide the meal at a political rally on the banks of the Nottaway River. In either case once the stew was introduced by Jimmy Matthews to the community at large it made an instant and lasting hit, and the tasty squirrel dish soon became known as Brunswick Stew. If you'd like to read Wayne M. Hilburn's article about making Brunswick stew with squirrel meat, click here. To read about stews and the stewmasters of today, click on the photos above.

Today most of the Virginia recipes substitute chicken for the squirrel meat, although sometimes rabbit is the main ingredient. The Georgia recipes favor pork and beef in addition to chicken and can include vinegar and other spicy ingredients. Both versions are often said to become so thick as to hold a spoon upright. However, to Georgians, the Virginia version is dismissed as a mere chicken and vegetable soup. To Virginians, the Georgians have no historical continuity to their stew which resembles a barbecue variation. In either case, many old versions call for ingredients such as fatback, Boston butt, shoe peg corn, Irish potatoes or butter beans, which are all names more familiar in the south than elsewhere. However, here are a couple of recipes which can be duplicated by just about any cook anywhere in America.

Brunswick Stew (a Virginia Version)

1 pound cut up chicken parts                2 ears of corn, grated
1 large onion                                                1 Tablespoon salt
1/2 pound lean ham (in small pieces)   1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes                             1 small pod red (chili) pepper
2 cups lima beans                                        2 1/2 Tablespoons butter
4 large boiling potatoes, diced

Put chicken in large pan with onion, ham and 3 quarts of water.
Simmer gently for two hours.

Add tomatoes, lima beans, potatoes, corn, salt pepper and chili pod. Cover pot and simmer gently for one more hour, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Add butter and serve hot.

Brunswick Stew (a Georgia Version)

1 3-lb. chicken                                               ½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 lb. lean pork                                                ½ stick (1/8 pound) butter
1 lb. lean beef                                                3 Tablespoons vinegar
3 medium onions, chopped                       2 16 oz. cans small lima beans
4 16 oz. cans tomatoes                             2 16 oz. cans creamstyle corn
5 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce                  1 can small green peas
1½ bottles (14 oz.) catsup                        3 small potatoes, diced*
1 Tbs. Tabasco sauce                                1 16 oz. box frozen cut okra*
2 bay leaves                                                   salt
½ bottle (12 oz.) chili sauce                      pepper

*items marked with an asterisk are optional

Combine chicken, pork and beef in a large, heavy pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add onions and cover with water. Cook slowly for several hours until meat falls from the bone. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Tear meat into shreds and return to stock in pot. Add canned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, catsup, Tabasco sauce, bay leaves, chili sauce, dry mustard and butter. Cook 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add vinegar, lima beans or butter beans, corn, peas and potatoes (if used) and okra (if used). Cook slowly until thick.
Serve in bowls.