Brunswick Stew: A Southern Classic
For a number of years, I was in charge of food service for Southern-based senior living communities. One of my residents’ most requested dinners was Brunswick stew, served with a large piece of warm cornbread—especially on a cold, drizzly winter’s evening.
Brunswick stew, for those less familiar with foods of the American South, is a hearty, tomato-based concoction featuring a blend of meats and vegetables. The earliest versions were made with small game such as squirrel or rabbit, while modern recipes typically use chicken, pork, or a combination of both.
The exact origin of Brunswick stew is unknown. While most food historians agree it’s an American creation, there are those who believe it may be of European decent. In her 1942 book Cross Creek Cookery, American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote that the stew was said to have been a favorite of Queen Victoria and may have come from Braunschweig, Germany—“Brunswick” in English.
In the United States, both Brunswick County, Virginia and Brunswick, Georgia—each named after the German Duchy Brunswick-Lüneburg—lay claim to inventing the dish. In Brunswick, Georgia, an old iron pot stands in the town square with a plaque stating it was used in 1898 to make the first Brunswick stew. Virginia tells a different story: that Jimmy Mathews, an African American chef working for Dr. Creed Haskins, a state legislator, invented the dish in 1828 while on a hunting expedition.
Stews that combine meat and grain go back thousands of years in both the Old and New Worlds. Anthropologist Charles Hudson noted that Southeastern Indians prepared stews using groundhog, squirrel, venison, opossum, and even bear simmered with fresh corn kernels and squash. Early European settlers often adapted these Native American cooking methods to the ingredients they had on hand.
Today, the preferred meats for Brunswick stew are chicken, pork, and sometimes beef, though nearly every cook has their own variation. In Virginian, chicken and occasionally rabbit at common. In Georgia, the stew is often made with pork and beef and seasoned with a spicer sauce. North Carolinians sometimes stir in pulled pork, and in both Georgia and Virginia, Brunswick stew is frequently served alongside barbecue.
Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, have their own close cousin known as Burgoo. This version typically features pork, chicken, or mutton, and includes vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes.
Farther north, in the Upper Midwest—especially in Wisconsin—a related dish called Booyah is popular. Traditionally cooked outdoors in enormous steel kettles, Booyah can take up to two days to prepare. It’s made with beef, chicken, and pork simmered with carrots, peas, onions, potatoes, and a variety of seasonings.
One common common trait among these stews is their thickness. As the Brunswick Stewmasters Association like to say:
“The stew is not done until the paddle can stand up in the middle!”
So there you have it. Whether it’s called Brunswick in Virginia or Georgia, Burgoo in Kentucky and Tennessee, or Booyah in the Upper Midwest, one thing’s certain: this thick, hearty stew is best enjoyed with a big slab of homemade cornbread or a basket of warm biscuits—and plenty of butter.
