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--> --> Jan. 15: The Real Brunswick Stew By Jeff Cheek Brunswick County, Virginia and the City of Brunswick, Georgia have a problem. Both claim to be the birthplace of a famous pioneer dish, Brunswick Stew. Brunswick is the county seat of Glynn County, a thriving metropolis of 70,000 on Georgia's Atlantic Coast. Lawrenceville is the county seat of Brunswick County in south central Virginia. Neither side will budge from its claim, but if they were to research the question, they would find that just about every state south of the Mason-Dixon line claims to have invented this historic dish. Brunswick stew is identified with the tough, hardy pioneers who built a nation in the wilderness. It was especially valuable to the pioneers because the meat was provided by squirrels which were plentiful while the other ingredients could be grown on the land. Only the spices and sugar had to be bought. A few years ago, Georgians and Virginians compromised. Neither gave up his claim but they could at least decide whose stew was best. Annually, they host a cook-off in Richmond. Virginia has won the past three contests. There was a glitch in 1999. Somehow the trophy ended up on the desk of Brunswick's mayor. After some good natured comments about the trophy being smarter than the judges, His Honor sent it to Lawrenceville. The 2000 contest was won by a Richmond housewife, Mrs. Zenab Abdulla. She was allowed to compete because of some previous contact with Brunswick County. The 2001 contest on November 3-4 was a battle between the United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville and the Blue Bird Café in Brunswick, Georgia. The judges tasted and debated for hours. In fact, some onlookers wondered if they were judging or having lunch! Finally, a decision was rendered. Both entries were delicious, but the Brunswick stew from the Methodist Church was slightly better, and was awarded first place. The Blue Bird Café was second, and Mrs. Abdulla's stew came in third. The original Brunswick stew used three or four squirrels but as the country was settled the squirrel population declined. Pioneer wives reworked the traditional recipe for Brunswick stew, substituting a chicken for the squirrels. It retained its popularity with pioneer families because the chicken as well as most of the other ingredients were home grown. The recipe below calls for some frozen vegetables but these could have been canned or picked fresh on the farm. INGREDIENTS: 1 whole chicken, cut up 6 cups water 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon crushed rosemary 1 bay leaf 1 10-ounce package frozen Lima beans 1 16-ounce can of tomatoes 2 cups diced potatoes 1 cup chopped onions 1 16-ounce package frozen cut okra 1 10-ounce can cream style corn 1 tablespoon sugar Salt and pepper to taste PREPARATION: Place chicken in deep skillet or pot. Add next four ingredients. Cover and simmer for one hour, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from broth. Cool, then strip meat from bones. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Meanwhile, add all other ingredients to broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for one hour. Add cut-up chicken to the stew. Reheat and serve. Jeff Cheek lives in Medford. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing