"Brunswick Stew" news and stories

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.

Perhaps its the lingering after-effects of my mother's Jewish heritage, but every winter I get an uncontrollable urge to make chicken soup. However, having been raised in the South, this seasonal instinct is channeled into the production of a thicker, richer, and generally more transcendent food: Brunswick stew.

Virginia and Georgia both lay claim to the ubiquitous stew; personally, I favor Virginia's claim, but that's only because I grew up there. In both areas, it is a standard accompaniment to barbecue, although it often finds its way to the table as a stand-alone meal.

Recipes for Brunswick stew tend to be somewhat idiosyncratic. For example, many chefs use potatoes, and others use barbecue sauce to increase the richness of the broth. By that standard, my Brunswick stew (recipe below) will strike some people as blasphemous. I go heavy on the tomatoes, keep out the potatoes, use light olive oil and skinned chicken to keep the fat down, and hold off on the barbecue. Still, regardless of your personal tastes, this should be a pretty good starting point for your own recipe!