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BRUNSWICK STEW: A Virginia
Treasure
This
is the story of the folk heritage foodway that is indigenous to
Brunswick County in Southside Virginia. Folks here have long and
vigorously claimed that the place-of-origin of Brunswick stew is in
Brunswick County Virginia - first cooked, it is said, on the banks
of the Nottaway River by an African American camp cook
named Uncle Jimmy Matthews. So strongly is this pride of
ownership that the Virginia Legislature passed a resolution in
1988 declaring Brunswick County the "Original Home of Brunswick
Stew." This brought an immediate response from Brunswick,
Georgia, which also claims origin of the stew, and the Georgia House
of Representatives soon passed their own resolution naming
Brunswick, Georgia as the true origin of the Southern stew that
has deep roots in the agrarian folk culture of the South. (See
Brunswick Stew: Georgia Named
her; Georgia Claims Her)
Since
Brunswick County Virginia sits right on the Virginia/North Carolina
state line and in between the two major highways running
south-to-north - Interstate 85 and 95 - it is easy to see how the
story of Brunswick stew spilling down into North Carolina fits
easily into the Brunswick County Virginia native's explanation of
how North Carolina and Georgia "got the stew." Naturally it migrated
South, say Virginians. The arguement with North Carolina over the
origins of Brunswick stew pale, however, when compared to the
veritable "stew wars" that occur ever so often between Virginia and
Georgia. Stan spent four years shooting this Virginia-based story
all over the South, resulting in a two hour feature length
documentary that premiered for the people of Brunswick County and
Virginians statewide at the State Fair of Virginia in 1998. A one
hour PBS version was edited for broadcast over Virginia PBS
stations. And a 77 minute version strikes a very viewable compromise
between the two lengths.
SEE ALSO - The Sheep Stew of
Dundas: A Gastronomical Delight
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info@stanwoodward.com
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