Brunswick stew is a tomato-based stew generally involving local beans, vegetables, and originally small game meat such as squirrel or rabbit, though today often chicken. The exact origin of the stew is disputed. The states of Virginia and Georgia both claim its birth, with Brunswick County in Virginia and the city of Brunswick in Georgia claiming it was developed there. It may have originated earlier in some form in the city of Braunschweig (English: Brunswick) in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in today's northern Germany.
 Brunswick stew made with chicken | |
| Type | Stew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Southern United States |
| Main ingredients | Tomatoes, lima beans, corn, okra, other vegetables, meat |
Ingredients
editRecipes for Brunswick stew vary greatly, but it is usually a tomato-based stew, containing various types of lima beans (butter beans), corn, okra, and other vegetables, and one or more types of meat. Originally it was small game such as squirrel, rabbit[1] or opossum meat, but chicken has become most common.[2]
Chicken and rabbit are more common in Virginia, pork in Georgia, and, though not for as long, Eastern North Carolina–style pulled pork barbecue.[3]
Squirrel Brunswick stew instructions are found in James Beard's American Cookery.[4]
Origin
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The stew's specific origin is unknown. Brunswick County, Virginia, and the city of Brunswick, Georgia, both named after the German Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, then home to the House of Hanover, which also held the British Crown, claim to have created it.[5]
A plaque on an old iron pot in Brunswick, Georgia, says the first Brunswick stew was made in it on July 2, 1898, on nearby St. Simons Island.[5] A competing story claims a Virginia state legislator's chef invented the recipe in 1828 on a hunting expedition.[6][7] Neither claim traces to the origin of those regions.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, in her Cross Creek Cookery (1942), wrote that the stew, said to have been one of Queen Victoria's favorites, may have come from Braunschweig, Germany, one of the historic capitals of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and traditionally known as "Brunswick" in British English.[8]
According to the Virginia Writers Project's guide to Virginia, published in 1941, the stew originated in Brunswick County, Virginia:[9]
Native to this county is Brunswick Stew, a flavorous brew first concocted by a group of hunters. One of the party, who had been detailed to stay in the camp as a cook, lazily threw all the supplies into a pot, it is said, and cooked the mixture over a slow fire. When his companions returned, cold and exhausted, they found the concoction a most appetizing dish. The time-honored directions for making this luscious meal are: boil about 9 pounds of game—squirrels are preferred—in 2 gallons of water until tender; add to the rich stock 6 pounds of tomatoes, 1 pound of butter-beans, 6 slices of bacon, 1 red pepper, salt to taste; cook 6 hours and add 6 ears of corn cut from the cob; boil for 8 minutes.
See also
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References
edit- ^ Clayton, B. (1987). The Complete Book of Soups and Stews. Simon & Schuster. p. 373. ISBN 978-0-671-43864-7. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ Harris, Ann Pringle (24 October 1993). "FARE OF THE COUNTRY; Who Invented Brunswick Stew? Hush Up and Eat". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Garner, Bob (2002). Bob Garner's Guide to North Carolina Barbecue. John F. Blair. p. 35. ISBN 9780895872548.
- ^ James Beard (28 February 2009). James Beard's American Cookery. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-06981-6.
- ^ a b Tennis, Joe (1 September 2007). Beach to Bluegrass: Places to Brake on Virginia's Longest Road. The Overmountain Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-57072-323-0. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
- ^ "Brunswick County, Virginia website". tourbrunswick.org. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28.
- ^ "Brunswick Stew". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2010-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- ^ Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan (20 March 1996). Cross Creek Cookery. Simon and Schuster. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-684-81878-8. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
- ^ Virginia Writers' Project (1946) [1940]. Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion. Federal Writers' Project's American Guide Series. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 474. 3rd printing with corrections. Retrieved December 14, 2022.