Sometimes remembered as “hunter’s stew,” the now popular and much enjoyed Southern classic Brunswick Stew apparently originated with a meat base of rabbit, squirrel, or opossum—the available choices easily obtained for the campfire cook pot. A familiar expert on all things Southern, humorist Roy Blount, Jr., is credited with this observation: “Brunswick stew is what happens when small mammals carrying ears of corn fall into barbecue pits.”
Thankfully, today’s Brunswick Stew is otherwise described as “a staple of the Southeast: an unpretentious thick succotash-like vegetable mix slow-simmered in a tomato-based sauce with big hearty chunks of beef, pork, game or chicken (my mother used the latter, the preferred Virginian way, with a bit of smoked ham or bacon for flavor.)” So wrote cookbook author Crescent Dragonwagon, whose book Bean by Bean devotes two separate recipes to the stew. One is a vegetarian version, a surprising contrast to the hunters’ humble beginning and good news for a growing number of cooks.
Between those extremes, Brunswick Stew today lends itself to an unknowable number of variations, as each cook adds, exchanges or removes ingredients at will. Even the source of its name (and thereby its origin) is up for discussion. Brunswick County, Virginia, argues with the city of Brunswick, Georgia, for “stew starter” rights, with Virginia’s reported date as 1828 and Georgia’s 1898. Brunswick County, North Carolina, may not claim the stew’s origin, but in a state known for barbecue, it could claim bragging rights. It’s also possible to find a recipe called German Brunswick Stew, but despite that title it’s still identified as a “Southern classic.”
Some recipes are written for unusually large numbers of servings because the stew is often featured at group events like political rallies, church suppers, farmers markets, and fire department or other fundraisers. It is the obvious highlight of the popular Taste of Brunswick Festival and Cook-Off held each year in the town of Alberta, Brunswick County, Virginia. At these events, the tempting smells of cooking stew are carried to all visitors for hours. Once served as a side dish for barbecued meat, the stew is now more likely to be the main dish. Whatever its origin or modern source, Brunswick Stew is now universally tomato-based, thick, and hearty. Chicken is the most popular primary meat in today’s stews, but pork, ham, and beef are frequently added to further satisfy the hearty requirement. Corn and lima beans are must-haves. Onions are a given, potatoes are common, green beans a maybe, and okra is the final touch for many aficionados.
In more normal quantities, Brunswick Stew fills its place in family tradition as the comfort food, the holiday specialty, the much-anticipated reminder of the joys of family gatherings. Serious cooks will prepare the stew slowly, using only fresh ingredients added in their proper order and time. While many recipes call for some canned or frozen ingredients, others specify fresh, though simple availability may be the deciding factor. In any case, the process will take a good part of the day. It is often the slow-cooked meal that doesn’t need a modern slow cooker. The house is filled with familiar aromas wafting from the kitchen, guaranteed to ensure a hungry crowd around the table when the dinner bell finally chimes.
Choosing a “typical” recipe for Brunswick Stew is a challenge for all the reasons already noted. The following recipe is from Jackie Garvin, the personality behind the blog Syrup and Biscuits, “a Southern food blog that champions the best the South has to offer...”
OLD FASHION BRUNSWICK STEW
From Jackie Garvin of Syrup and Biscuits
Ingredients:
• 1 whole 4 to 5 pound chicken
• 1 (4 to 5 pound) bone-in Boston butt pork roast, cut in large pieces
• 5 onions, divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 pounds whole kernel corn (I prefer Silver Queen)
• 2 pounds tiny green limas, shelled (we call these butterbeans)
• 2 pounds okra, sliced
• 2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and the juice (or equivalent fresh tomatoes)
• 32 ounces ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Place chicken and Boston butt in an extremely large pot along with one whole peeled onion, a bay leaf, and one tablespoon kosher salt. Cover with water and simmer three to four hours or until both chicken and pork are shreddable. Remove chicken and pork and let cool. When they’ve cooled enough to handle, remove bones, skin and excess fat. Shred. Strain cooking broth and return to pot. Add chicken and pork back to the pot.
Chop the remaining four onions and add. I want the meat and onions to cook all alone to give the onion flavor a chance to permeate the meat before the other ingredients are added. Bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes. Permeate, onions, permeate!
Add peeled and chopped potatoes. Don’t make the chopped size any smaller than an inch or the potatoes will cook to mush.
Add fresh corn, butterbeans (green limas) and okra. If not available fresh, substitute high quality frozen. Add tomatoes (fresh or canned) and ketchup.
Add Tabasco sauce and bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Serve hot.
Note: The large pot is a jelly canner, 13” across and 9” high.
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