N.C. Festival Refuses to Take Sides in Brunswick Stew Debate

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Jan 28th 2010 @ 1:00PM

A North Carolina town with no real claim to the Brunswick stew tradition is mounting its second annual Brunswick Stew Cook-Off this weekend, an event that's notable in the stew community for its apolitical stance on the popular dish's origins.

"There is a competition between Virginia and Georgia, so we're in the middle of a fight," Megan Masser, events director for the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce, explains. "I'm staying neutral."

More than 2,000 people sampled stews at last year's festival in Shallotte, says Masser. For audience members and the 22 cook teams – each tasked with preparing at least eight gallons of the thick tomato-based stew – it's the stew's flavor that matters.

"That's the most important thing," Masser says.

While stewmasters in neighboring states are equally concerned with how their stews taste, they're also caught up in the ever-contentious creation myths surrounding Brunswick stew.

The Virginia General Assembly in 1988 declared Brunswick stew a "celestial sustenance," decreeing that Uncle Jimmy Matthews, a camp cook for a Brunswick County, Va., politician, pioneered the squirrel-meat stew in 1828. Georgia's legislature fired back three days later with the competing claim that true Brunswick stew was invented in Brunswick County, Ga.

While the states continue to battle for Brunswick stew supremacy annually at Stewbilee in Brunswick, Ga., the Georgia Humanities Council's own New Georgia Encyclopedia cedes the title to Virginia. "In truth, the one-pot meal is credited to a number of places, but the honor (so far as the name is concerned) must go to Brunswick County, Virginia," the entry's author writes.

Ever the peacemaker, Masser points out each state has its own style of Brunswick stew. Georgia's stew, a fixture on barbecue plates, is chunky and pork-heavy. Virginia's stew, which typically incorporates game meat and is rarely served at restaurants, is cooked smooth.

As for the North Carolina version, Masser says it's "cooked with more chicken and butter beans. We're just looking for a really tasty stew."

Filed Under: Local Delicacies, Food History, Events
Tags: brunswick stew, brunswick stew cook-off, featured, stew, stewbilee

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-28-2010 @1:39PM LinC said... I'm from Alabama, so safely out of the range of the stew debate, but I like my Brunswick stew with lots of shreds of pork in it. And not too spicy. I avoided Brunswick stew for years because it looked like it was made from kitchen scraps, but I've become a convert.
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1-29-2010 @1:26AM mary said... Now Alabama has its own version but does not call it Brunswick. Picnics and fund-raisers all over the Northern half of the state feature chicken stew, which is basically chicken, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and corn, sometimes carrots, and lots of spices. Heavenly! Although my personal version has mixed veggies in it for the extra fiber and flavor--

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1-29-2010 @6:37AM Jeff Borthen said... B-stew is like B,B.Q. what you grow up on is right............ Lexington B.B.Q is the best.
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1-28-2010 @10:08PM Ry said... It's Brunswick, Ga, not Brunswick County, Ga. It's part of Glynn County.

And we are the real inventors ;)
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1-28-2010 @10:18PM trptdr said... So tell me, what is the name of the town in NC where all this is happening? I have read the ariticle several times, and maybe I am blind, but I can't seem to find where you mentioned the name of the town.
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1-28-2010 @10:27PM Caitlin said... It's in Shallotte, which is Brunswick County, NC. Go figure haha.

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1-28-2010 @10:33PM spirit said... Reread the third paragraph.

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1-29-2010 @5:05AM tom said... it look's good but is it really worth fighting about?
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1-29-2010 @5:37AM mark said... im from SW missouri. ive never heard of brunswick stew. i will however be looking it up and how you make it. there is NOTHING better in the winter than stews and soups and chilis.
for those of you competing, you know what the best results are? MORE GREAT STEWS!!! i hope the winners post some recipes.
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1-29-2010 @7:30AM David said... They have a version called "Burgoo" in the Western Kentucky/ Southern Indiana area that is a combination of game meats and veggies, cooked for a long time in a large kettle over an open fire and stirred constantly. I have always hypothesized that 'burgoo' is some Kentucky translation for Brunswick stew. It looks more like the Virginia version as everything is cooked and stirred until it is thick and individually unrecognizable, but absolutely delicious. Typically it is cooked in the Fall along with the local variety of BBQ.
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1-29-2010 @4:16PM Hattie Crabtree said... My late great-aunt used to make Burger Bergoo.It was basically a thick hamburger stew with tomato sauce in it.The best Brunswick Stew for me is in Henderson,NC at Forysth's.It has just the right amount of veggies, pork and chicken.Its more like a thick soup.
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1-29-2010 @5:46PM doc said... I will tell ya that Brunswick Stew DOES have a place in SE North Carolina... I learnt my recipe from a lady that worked for my Grandmother and was from that part of the country... Was it the first? second? third? Dang I dont know!.... I DO KNOW its dang Good and I will put it up against them Virginies, them Georgaians,,,, even then Kentucks... even them further north.... To me, its a comfort food group in itself... thanks, doc
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