Brunswick Stew Transcript

- There we are. Brunswick County, Virginia is the original home of Brunswick stew according to local tradition. While Dr. Creed Haskins.

- [Dave] During the 1990s, Stan Woodward, a "Folklife" and Southern culture documentary filmmaker, produced the story of Virginia Brunswick stew. The way it's prepared in the traditional manner by stewmasters and crews in the tobacco country of Brunswick County, Virginia, which claims to be the original home of Brunswick stew. Said to have been first prepared and named by a camp cook, Jimmy Matthews in 1828. Across Brunswick County, stewmasters and stew crews still cook the stew in the traditional black cast iron pots, using chicken as the primary ingredient, a substitute for the squirrel cooked in the original Matthews' stew. And a very different concoction from the preparation of the stews in North Carolina and Georgia. In the 1980s, an article appeared in a Georgia newspaper declaring that Brunswick stew originated in Brunswick, Georgia.

- Hear ye, hear ye!

- This story created an outcry in Brunswick County, Virginia. Its citizens petitioned the state legislature to call for a resolution declaring Brunswick County, Virginia to be the original home of Brunswick stew.

- February, 1988. That Brunswick County, Virginia is the place of origin of Brunswick stew.

- We do feel especially proud today, for one reason, I hope this will put a stop to these rumors that have started down in Georgia, that the stew originated down there in 1898. Well, of course, we all know that it didn't. It originated in Brunswick County in 1828 on the banks of the Nottoway River. And we are really proud today that the General Assembly is gonna recognize that fact and we're gonna take that home and we're gonna hang our hat on it.

- "And whereas these pernicious blasphemies must be stopped."

- Well, I just say that the folks in Brunswick, Georgia are absolutely wrong. The recipe and the taste of the Brunswick stew in Virginia has been far superior to that in Georgia for many years.

- "Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring that the General Assembly proclaims its pride in Brunswick County, Virginia as the place of origin of this astonishing, gastronomic miracle." Thus endeth the reading.

- [Dave] But on the heels of the Virginia Resolution, the Georgia legislature passed their own resolution declaring Brunswick, Georgia as the legitimate place of origin for the stew, and the Stew Wars began. Cook-offs were held to determine which Brunswick would have the right to claim origin of the stew for that year.

- And watch us, Brunswick, Georgia, win that trophy back.

- [Dave] Stan Woodward traveled to Georgia to learn more about the Georgia tradition for inclusion in the "Brunswick Stew" documentary. And now it's time to tell the Georgia side of the story.

♪ Georgia named her Georgia claimed her ♪

♪ That Brunswick stew ♪

- We got the Georgia legislature riled up and they passed a resolution claiming its origin in Brunswick and Glynn County in Georgia, and I'm not gonna go mess with Woody Woodside in the Georgia legislature.

- I told somebody one time I was convinced that Virginia was not the authentic Brunswick stew. Anybody that wanted to use chicken bouillon cubes didn't know much about Brunswick stew.

- I've had both Brunswick stew in Virginia, as well as in Georgia, and there's just no comparison between it. I mean, folks in Georgia know how to do it. Whether you put just pork in it, whether you put chicken in it, whether you sprinkle a little venison in it, or whether you put a little shrimp in it, Brunswick stew in Georgia simply is the best in the world. Just absolutely no question about it.

- [Stan] Excuse me, do you eat Brunswick stew? Have you ever eaten Brunswick stew?

- Yeah.

- [Stan] What's it taste like, for people who've never eaten it before?

- I can't... it's like beef stew a lot. I've never really had it with squirrel and all the real Southern stuff in it.

- [Stan] Okay, thanks.

- Sorry.

- [Stan] Excuse me, I'm doing a film about Brunswick stew. Have you ever eaten Brunswick stew?

- Yeah.

- [Stan] What's it like? For people visiting the Olympics who've never had it before, how would you describe the taste of it?

- Well, it depends on how you make it. Brunswick stew from Brunswick, Georgia is a tomato base kind of a stew with pork in it. Not ground up pork but stringy, I mean you pull it apart, and you put corn and you put potatoes, diced up potatoes and just about any kind of vegetable soup type. And-

- [Stan] What's it taste like?

- Let's get out the middle of the road. Well, I don't know, it tastes like a, a Brunswick stew. I mean it tastes like a vegetable kind of soup.

- [Stan] But if you've got foreigners coming to the Olympics and they hear about Brunswick stew and they ask what it tastes like, how would you compare it to anything?

- [Announcer] Let's do a little bit of that Olympic shuffle.

- [Stan] Have you had a chance to eat any Georgia Brunswick stew?

- No, not, not at all.

- [Stan] Have you ever eaten Georgia Brunswick stew?

- No, I haven't.

- Did you eat what?

- [Stan] Georgia Brunswick stew.

- What is that?

- [Stan] It's a famous stew made here in Georgia. Have you had a chance to eat it?

- No.

- [Stan] No?

- No.

- [Stan] Where are you from?

- Mexico.

- He's a stew lover.

- [Stan] You're from Puerto Rico?

- Yes.

- [Stan] What kind of stew would you recommend to me if I came to Puerto Rico?

- Oh, hers. She makes one which is mixed with what?

- Chicken, pork, corn, carrot, cabbage.

- My dad makes great Brunswick stew. You have to come home with me.

- [Stan] Where did you grow up eating Brunswick stew?

- Well, I grew up all over South Georgia. And it's a staple with anytime you order barbecue in Georgia. And in Georgia, barbecue is traditionally pork barbecue as opposed to beef barbecue out West. And anytime you go you'll go into a lot of barbecue places, and one of the staples that goes with barbecue pork or chicken is Brunswick stew. When the farmers in South Georgia would make it, they would take, you'd make it during the time that you processed the hogs. Most Brunswick stew back then was made with the meat from the pork head. It's not done that way much anymore.

- [Stan] That's the old traditional way, though?

- Right, right.

- [Stan] Okay.

- People tried to make use of all the parts.

- [Stan] Right.

- And nothing went to waste.

- [Stan] Right.

- But I would venture to say that most commercial operators or most restaurants now just use pork roast.

- [Stan] Okay, thank you very much.

- Sure.

- Appreciate it.

- Have you ever seen this book?

- [Stan] Let's see.

- [Wayne] It contains all the barbecue places, I believe in the southeast.

- [Stan] Is your place in here?

- [Wayne] Yes.

- [Stan] Why is it in Georgia that you get Brunswick stew with barbecue, kind of goes hand-in-hand so much?

- Well, I reckon it's just a tradition. Like all the folk they've done all of my life. They held reunions and stuff like that. They get out and cook a hog and make Brunswick stew. And back then they used hog heads. We used hog heads maybe 15 years until it got well we couldn't hardly get 'em so I just substituted it for shoulder instead of hog heads.

- [Stan] Is that right? People don't make it with hog head much anymore?

- Not as much as I used to, no, sir.

- [Stan] Where would I go to see a hogshead Brunswick stew? Where could I find somebody making one?

- Probably some family home somewhere. I don't know whether any public places now put hog head in there or not.

- [Stan] So it's sort of a passing tradition I guess.

- Thank you ma'am.

- I wouldn't think so.

- I don't know that I wanna try any hogs head stew.

♪ It's been said a good hogshead makes it sublime ♪

- Georgia Agrirama is all about life in South Georgia in the late 1800s, early 1900s. And we have live-in interpreters, costumed people on site.

- [Stan] You're helping me try to find somebody who actually cooks a stew in the old way.

- Yeah, right.

- [Stan] And who is it?

- Lee Ferguson. Yeah, he's from Omega, Georgia. And he works for a turf farm, Pat Creek Turf Farm in Adel. And I'm trying to get in touch with him.

- He's really interested in the hog head.

- Yeah, I am. Now tell me a little about the lady I'll be talking to here.

- Ms. Thompson. She has been at the Agrirama for a number of years. When you see Ms. Thompson, you will think you've stepped back into time.

- The first thing you do, you know you have to dress the hog.

- [Lady] Okay.

- Well, the next thing you do, you got to cut his head off. You got to get all them eyes out. Got to cut his nose off. After they got him dressed like that, put him on the stove and cook him. And most people always put either chicken, I believe it was chicken or chicken in it to help, you know, fill it up some way or another. And then when you got it done you would mix tomatoes, corn, peas, a little bit of hot pepper in. And then you cook it all together and whenever you got it done, they would dip it up and put it in jars or cans. Probably in-

- [Stan] So they wouldn't eat it right away. They'd-

- Well, they would eat some of it. But, you know, if they cooked a bunch of it, they would have to put part of it where it would be taken care of.

- [Stan] Yeah.

- We worked for wages. Our daddy did and we did too. And they had a certain time of year that they would dress these hogs, maybe four or five at the time. And then they would, you know, just cut 'em up and hang them in the smokehouse but they'd have to still have to do something with them heads and also the intestines. The women would have to wash them and they would eat them.

- [Stan] Were those chitterlings? And then the head would be reserved for the stew?

- Right.

- [Stan] Bud, did you get everything worked out?

- Yeah, I got it worked out and I talked to Suzanne. I told her, you know, what we were doing and-

- [Stan] Suzanne is your sister?

- Yeah, Suzanne's my sister. I told her that we were meeting this guy, you know, for you to talk to him about the Brunswick stew. She said, "Well, if he talks to anybody he needs to talk to Lee Ferguson because he makes the best Brunswick stew in South Georgia." There he is. There is Mr. Ferguson. How in the world are you doing this evening?

- That's old timey, you understand?

- Yeah, well, that's what I mean. I wanna know how, you know, you do yours on the fire and what size kettle and all that you use, you know? But if you use the kettle, you know, or just whatever we could make it as original.

- [Lee] In the old timey way?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Old timey way.

- I'll try.

- [Bud] That's what we're trying to do.

- See, if you want make it old timey way, we going old timey, a wash pot.

- Yeah.

- You understand?

- Yeah, the wash pot.

- The wash pot.

- [Bud] Because, see I took him out and showed him the syrup shed.

- You know, I always tell my son to stick around and watch what I'm doing, you understand? Where he learn how to do it and, you know, keep it going, you understand. He would understand it.

- [Stan] He's over here.

- Yeah.

- You his son?

- Yes, sir.

- [Stan] And do you pretty much follow him on his cooking?

- Yes, sir, most of the time. When I ain't, you know, out playing basketball or something.

♪ Must be the same thing make a tom cat fight all night ♪

♪ Part of me's going crazy ♪

♪ Trying to run them big legged women down ♪

♪ Wanna make a man go crazy baby ♪

♪ Trying to run them big legged women down ♪

♪ Must be the same thing make a bulldog hug his hound ♪

♪ It's that same thing ♪

- Could you cook one if you had to?

- Yes, sir.

- You could? Would it be pretty much like his?

- I wouldn't say that, now.

- I used to wouldn't eat it. 'Cause the reason I didn't eat it 'cause he put the hog head in it, but after I start tasting it, then I eat it now. But I used to wouldn't eat it

- [Stan] Is that right? But the taste is pretty good with hog.

- Oh yes, it's real good.

- [Stan] When did you start cooking for people?

- Started cooking for people in '70, '71, I believe.

- [Stan] What made you start?

- Because my mother told me I need to start cooking and I start out cooking. And that's where we end up to.

- [Stan] Is that right?

- Right. She said the gooder you can cook Brunswick stew and barbecue, you need to start cooking.

- Oh, she was a good cook. She invited us Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, and she cooked all kind of cakes, all kind of pies. She really was a good cook. I miss her so bad. She was a good lady. Christian hearted lady. Yeah, she learn him. He can cook, he can wash, he can iron, he can do little bit of all of it.

- [Stan] He seems to like to cook a little bit other than that other stuff.

- Yeah, sure do.

♪ And tell her who ♪

♪ Who is to blame when the whole world fussing about that ♪

- [Stan] Once this hog's head is done, what do you do?

- Well, you'll let it cool off then where you can take your knife and chip it up real good, mash it up real good and then get all the bones out it. And then be waiting on your chicken to get on. And then you go for head, too. Then when your chicken get on you let it cool off and then you chip everything up. Then you'll start mixing your ingredient right there. Yeah, start mixing what you got to go in it. Then you let it cook out 35, 40 minutes on the stove and then you're out of here.

- [Stan] Is the Brunswick stew that we'll eat today and that you're cooking, how close is that to your mama's Brunswick stew? How close is it?

- Oh, I don't know, just ain't no different in it.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Ain't no difference in it.

- [Stan] So she really passed that recipe onto you?

- Right, she sure did.

- [Stan] So this is pretty much-

- And she got it from her mother, if you wanna know the truth.

- Is that right?

- Yeah.

- 'Cause I knew when I go to my grandmother's house, when she was staying in Ocilla, Georgia back in the country. And then my grandmother used to be making Brunswick stew, man, she could make it, too. And we was kids back in them days. And my mother, that's all she'd talk about. How her mother could make Brunswick stew and how she could do it. And I told her I'm gonna do it just like you. So that's what I did. Kept it up. They gonna gimme something to take it up in.

- [Man] They almost got the room cleaned up for us.

- All right, we're gonna run in here and get this meat up here and put it in here, and if it don't tap too bad. Look at that. Just look at that. Look at that. That's lovely. Just lovely. Well, it's done. You hear me? This is done. It ain't one done, it's too done.

- [Man] You all want to make a mad dash.

- I tell you what I do. This is a old timey stove. Come down on here and watch this old timey stove.

- [Stan] Now what, how many chickens you got in there?

- [Lee] I just only got one.

- One good hen-

- One good hen. How about that?

- All right.

- All right. First thing I'm opening, a can of tomatoes. Okay. Keeping up with me, Stan? All right, stay with me.

- [Lady] Yes, it is ready. Just pan up.

- I got everything working just fine. Getting it right, getting it right. This tomato ketchup is to make the stew come right. You has to use this to blend it in. You can even smell it. See, it smells like Brunswick stew. Yeah, there's a couple pieces. This the most important thing right here, this chicken. Yeah. The chicken broth, that's the broth, the fat off the chicken. It's good to put in rice and cook your rice and make your chicken dressing.

- [Lady] So now you are the judge.

- My momma used to have one of these stoves. She'd keep her hot water in these things.

- [Lee] That color is there. Look at that color.

- [Lady] Many years ago.

- You like Brunswick to be yellow?

- Good.

- It is delicious.

- This is the only thing I've ever known Brunswick stew to be in South Georgia. Exactly what we're eating.

- My grandma, she used to to make Brunswick stew just like this with the hog head in there. And, I mean, I've never known anything like it. You know, I've tasted it with the other stuff in there and without the hog's head, just, it ain't the same. This is it.

- Appreciate that. Appreciate that. That's good going.

- [Man] It sure is.

- Well, whatever it is, the hog head just got a flavor to it. You can't bypass it.

- You can't.

- Stan?

- [Stan] Yeah?

- We done went down to the bean.

- [Stan] I think so.

- Then all the way out from the morning to now. We done gained a lot, gained two pounds. No, I hope we ain't gained that much. But I hope everybody enjoyed it though. Brunswick stew goes a long ways back.

- I imagine Brunswick stew migrated to Atlanta like everybody else has. You know, this was a pretty small hole in the wall 150 years ago, maybe a railroad crossing, and that was about the size of it. And now today everybody in Georgia has moved up here and half the Yankees have moved down here. So we've got, you know, we've got a lot of people, but every one of 'em has been exposed to Brunswick stew.

- [Stan] If I wanna find some good genuine Brunswick stew that has roots in that farm culture, where are some places I can go?

- Well, you can start out at Williamson Brothers. They've got places in Canton, Douglasville, and Marietta. Then you can move over to Big Ed's, over on Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill. And then you'd really be missing if you didn't go down to Harold's in South Atlanta. They have great Brunswick stew as well.

- Well, it's my grandmother-

- Oh, it is?

- That's been making it, yeah. She started it about, well, it's been 50 years this year, this coming year. She makes the stew, it's her recipe and everything. She's 84.

- Waiting on your fries, son.

- [Stan] The one thing that I find is unique about Georgia is you can't order a barbecue plate without getting Brunswick stew. They seem to be kind of wedded together.

- Well, they are wedded together. And I think that argues for the authenticity of Brunswick stew in Georgia. Growing up we loved barbecue. And even as a politician, I've never gotten tired of barbecue, eating it sometimes two or three times a day. But it always caps off with Brunswick stew. One of my favorite political events that I used to have is Brunswick Stew and Cornbread with Sonny.

- [Stan] Hey, John!

- Stan!

- How you doing?

- What's up?

- [Stan] Good to see you. You ready for Stewbilee

- Well, I have been preparing and fasting for the last three days. We're definitely gonna be overdosing on Brunswick stew, but it occurred to me that since it's such a long drive from Atlanta to the coast, we're gonna need to stop for lunch somewhere along the way. And I'm thinking if we could find an out of the way barbecue place-

- [Stan] That car right there.

- [John] Yeah?

- [Stan] that car has an instinct and I'm sure we'll be driving down the road and it'll suddenly cut either to the right or the left and get us right where we need to go.

- I think you also have a built-in alarm system that goes off when there is Brunswick stew within 100 miles.

- [Stan] Yeah, you've been with me, right?

- Right.

- [Stan] Well, hop in. How you been doing? John Burrison and I have worked in the past on the story of Brunswick stew and other Southern stews cooked ritually in black iron wash pots, at gatherings that honor the recipes and the memory of ancestors whose roots go deep in the farm culture and agricultural society of the South. In Georgia, these folk heritage food ways are celebrated at family reunions and special occasions throughout the state.

- This is basically how we've done it, I guess you'd say in modern times. Before then the tomatoes were cooked at home and brought, all these ingredients were brought by someone's home.

- [Stan] The trip to Brunswick, Georgia and the annual Stewbilee Festival had been in the works since John and I first met.

- I'm sure that in your research you've come across the controversy about the origin of Brunswick stew and Brunswick Georgia claims to be the originator. Apparently, I don't know if you've seen the kettle down there, 25 gallon pot on Highway 17 that has a plaque declaring it to be the pot in which Brunswick stew was first cooked in 1898. But, obviously that's late in in the story. And then Brunswick County, North Carolina, and Virginia are fighting also for the honors. We are approaching the rest stop on I-95 where there is a marker erected by the Eagle Scouts, apparently, declaring this to be the place where Brunswick stew was first made or the pot where Brunswick stew was first made in the 1890s. And so we're gonna take a good look at the marker and see what it actually says. And we're gonna be talking to a couple of guys from the town of Brunswick, one of them a stewmaster, about their views of the Stew Wars and the rivalry between the town of Brunswick, Georgia and Brunswick County, Virginia.

- [Stan] How you doing?

- Good, how are you?

- We're doing good.

- Tell me who you are here. You got your hands full.

- Breeden Lyles.

- [Stan] Very nice to meet you, Stan Woodward.

- Mack Wilson.

- Mack.

- Mack's Barbecue.

- All right. And you two guys have won this contest for the Stewbilee down here, have you?

- Right.

- Correct.

- [Stan] When did you win?

- I won in 1987, the first year we had it. That's the original trophy.

- [Stan] All right, and how about you?

- It's been about 15 years.

- This is the magazine article in "Southern Living," dated January, 1991 that tells of the Stew Wars. This was the controversy between Brunswick, Georgia and Brunswick County, Virginia on who had the original stew.

- [Stan] Now how do you prove that? Now, we're sitting here at a pot that's on the interstate here. It's sort of a symbol, I guess, that you guys claim origin of the stew.

- Okay.

- [Stan] How do you-

- We prove it because from our House of Representatives, we got the proclamation with the seal on it. And this is all the evidence we need that we are the original stew makers.

- [Stan] And this is an authentic seal from the House of Representatives?

- Yes, sir, this is the authentic seal from the House of Representatives.

- But if you read the plaque carefully, it says "The first Brunswick stew was made here in the Brunswick Golden Isles area," not in this pot, but "in this area in early colonial days." Which is a lot earlier than the period we're talking about in the 1890s. So I think there's some historical issues here that haven't been quite cleared up.

- [Stan] Now, that sounds like you've got a leaky argument, gentlemen. But what do you respond to that.

- We got the seal. It comes from the House of Representatives. What else you gotta have?

- The seal makes it official.

- You can't trust your government, who can you trust?

- I think that's an excellent question. Who can you trust?

- We're the people who produced Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter's like George Washington, he never tells a lie.

- And Zel don't lie too often.

- Jimmy likes our Brunswick stew.

- Well, when I was a little kid, I remember my granddaddy talking about the Brunswick stew recipe and we were sitting at a table eating at the time. And he said that it came over, that it was started with the Mobley family when they came over from England just before the Quakers came over.

- [Stan] When would that have been?

- He said early 1700s and he gave me a year and I don't remember the year. When they came over they didn't have any money. They were pretty poor. And I guess everybody was back then and the meat that you couldn't cut off a bone and fry or cook on a fire or grill or something like that, they'd take and throw it in a pot. An example would be today's deer ribs. Most people throw 'em away. You can take those deer ribs and throw 'em in a pot of water and boil it with some onion and those ribs will cook off the bone. Now, the meat will and it's real good. And if you'll notice Brunswick stew's a little bit stringy. Those ribs and the meat you cook off the bone like that, normally it'll be a little bit stringy. Well, to keep from throwing the ribs and some of the turkey meat and some of the stuff away, they just threw it in a pot and boiled the meat off the bone and they called it stew. Well, right here in Brunswick, they run across a bunch of Indians and they had introduced stuff like corn and vegetables into the Brunswick stew. When Brunswick got the name Brunswick, then they started calling it Brunswick stew because this is where they had met the Indians and started putting all the different stuff in with the meat. So it was kind of an Indian thing, but it was kind of a family thing, too. And they started from then on it called Brunswick stew and it's turned out to be pretty good, you know?

- [Stan] Ms. Quimby, do you consider Brunswick stew Georgia Sea Island food way?

- Yes, I do. I do believe that we are the ones that originated here on the coast, right here in Brunswick. And on the island, here in Glynn County, like on Sea Island, St. Simons, Jekyll and Brunswick and out in the countries, you know, out in the rural areas. In those days they were country. We still call it country, but it's built up now. It's subdivisions out there now.

- [Stan] Would you think it would go all the way back to plantation days or not?

- Yes, yes, 100%, yes.

- [Stan] How so?

- Because our ancestors were the ones that knew how to take the scraps or take the hog head, the feet, all of that, how to use it to make a meal because they had to survive. So they were the ones that knew when they give you those parts of the meat, like the chitterlings and the hog head, those older ladies knew what to do to survive. So it went back to slavery. And when they would take that hog head and make that Brunswick stew, they were good cooks. And they knew how to season it with the seasoning that they would get out of the gardens or in the woods, and they would take all that vegetables and put it in there because they were good cooks and they knew how to season and they would season by taste. Today, I season by taste. But they would season by taste and they were good cooks. And, man, you could eat your head off. They was good.

- [Stan] Let me tell you. John Burrison told me that you are part of a singing group, that's a Georgia's Sea Island singing group. Is that right?

- Yes, yes.

- [Stan] What do you call yourselves?

- The Georgia Sea Island Singers.

- [Stan] And John said that I needed to be sure that I got your music in this film.

- Okay, we'll be happy to do it.

- [Stan] Who all sings with you?

- [Ms. Quimby] The children. When I say "children," we've got children from 50 years old down to 45. The baby's 45 and the oldest one is 50 years old.

- [Stan] You think we can maybe meet somewhere like at that visitor center-

- Yes.

- [Stan] Where that Brunswick stew pot is?

- Yes, yes.

- [Stan] And what would you sing for me there?

- Let me think about what would be appropriate for it. Let me see. I'd have to think about what would be appropriate while we are there. Because we have songs, games, dances, appropriate for all occasions. Whatever we are talking about, there's something our ancestors created to sing. 'Cause see, they sung while they worked. And they would sing it. I could just think of something that we sang that would fit that.

- [Stan] That would be great. I thank you.

- And we'll have the children, the grandchildren, and great-grandchildren there.

- [Stan] Wow, that'd be great.

♪ Got to get back to the country ♪

- Most places in the South, particularly in your rural areas and your stores and your little shops and your little gas stations and everything else, you can always go right down the menu. You're gonna find Brunswick stew somewhere on there somewhere. And somebody's got a little secret. They're not gonna tell you what to do. They're not gonna divulge how they make it. They're gonna a little bit of this, a little bit of that, drop a little bit of this in there or run a little bit of this through there, and that's my Brunswick stew, that's what makes it so popular.

- If I had to give you one secret of this Brunswick stew, it would be the seven and a half turns on a nice can opener. I think probably the lifestyle of the St. Simons Island wife or mother is so hectic, so full of activities, that there is no possible way. If you have ever seen a real Brunswick stew recipe, how intense it is and how detailed it is and how long it takes. This Brunswick stew, I can go back there and put a pot of Brunswick stew together in about four and a half minutes.

- [Stan] Four and a half minutes?

- I know it's-

- [Stan] That's gonna make a lot of stewmasters weep. How do you do that?

- Yeah, I know, but we don't even use an electric can opener. We could make it faster if we had an electric can opener, but I'm kind of old school.

- This is a souvenir from the 2001 Stewbilee. I'd like for you to come with me and introduce you to Thom's Kitchen.

- [Stan] All right, thank you.

- I'm in it for the fun of it. I enjoy doing it because it's for a good cause. Here's my shingle. I haven't won first place yet. And, again, I'm not in it for the competition really. I'm in it to support the club. This is the banner we use to display and identify the Kiwanis team cooking area.

- [Stan] Thom, how far back does this stew go in your family?

- My first recollection was about 1937.

- [Stan] And whose stew were you eating at that time?

- My father.

- Your father?

- And that was right here in Glynn County.

- [Stan] Well, do you think that the African American folk probably cooked Brunswick's, too, like the white folks did?

- I think so. Because back then there was a variety of meats that went on, wild game went into Brunswick stew. Rabbit, squirrel, opossum, raccoon. But because the folks didn't have money to buy beef and the chicken, people raised their own chickens. So they used whatever meat was available. Well, that was part of the, and it was done on celebration days. That was not just an everyday occurrence.

- [Stan] Like, what would be a celebration day?

- 4th of July, Labor Day or things when working people had days off. They'd cook big servings in the wash pot, boil crabs, chitterlings and all those things. They were all wash pot.

- [Stan] So we're really talking about heritage food ways that go back.

- Yes.

- Here?

- Yes.

- [Stan] And not just Brunswick stew, but low country boil too.

- Yes. Well, we didn't call it low country boil then. We just called it boiled crabs, boiled shrimp and oysters.

- [Stan] Virginia?

- Yes, hello there. So nice to see you. This is the official seal of the Georgia State House of Representatives with the capitol in the middle of the seal. And this is a sought after seal for the official documents that are passed by the whole Georgia General Assembly. We know we are the very first because we have the stew pot. We can show that we have the original stew pot that was brought over on the boat, The Wanderer, that is very famous for its history.

- This is pot number two. This one in town at the visitor center. And this looks like an older pot than the one we saw out on the highway at the welcome center. It's nicely chained down. Very unlikely that the Brunswick County, Virginia folks are gonna come down here and steal it without creating a lot of commotion. "In this pot, the first Brunswick stew was made on St. Simons Isle, July 2nd, 1898." 1898 is pretty late in the game. But the mayor seemed to believe that there was some evidence for Brunswick stew being made in this area as early as the late 1700s.

- [Stan] Well, gentlemen, thank you for meeting me here. Brad, you're the Mayor of Brunswick. And I just need to ask you a question. You know, all three of you guys were involved in the Brunswick Stew Festival up in Virginia, and there was a little incident that you stole the pot.

- [Man] Excuse me, sir, that was not a theft of a pot. That was returning the pot to the rightful owners.

- [Stan] Well, the pot was a trophy. It was won by one of the Virginia stewmasters.

- [Man] No, this was not a win. This was a theft on their part.

- [Brad] Brunswick County, Virginia is an inland county, landlocked.

- [Man] That's true.

- But anybody that studies American history knows that this country was founded on the coast first and then moved inland. And we have documents here that prove that fact. That prove that Brunswick, Georgia was the home, origination of Brunswick stew. And if you'd like, I'll read this document to you real quick.

- [Stan] That'd be good.

- It's in old English, so I may stumble a little bit on it. And it says "A recipe for a good and wholesome stew as told to me, Corporal Thomas Hubert of His Majesty's 74th Regiment of Foot, encamped on St. Simons Island near the township of Brunswick in the year of our Lord 1728. The recipe herewith written down this day, was given to me, Thomas Hubert, in the most sacred of confidence to guard its contents and to protect its integrity." And it goes on to give the description of the stew and how to properly cook the stew. Fold this back in for me?

- [Stan] Where do you keep this? This seems like it's a pretty important document.

- This is kept locked securely in a vault and the document is kept in the book that it was found in because of the connectivity and history and the provenance that it gives to the authenticity and the origination of Brunswick stew.

- [Stan] Have you ever had the Brunswick stew people from Virginia down here to the Stewbilee?

- Yeah, we invited them from the very beginning of the Stewbilee. And we sent teams up to Virginia to represent us. I think the first year they came in third and the second year they came in second. And then we invited the Virginia team to come down and participate. And it was a funny thing when they got here and they started cooking, they were arrested for impersonating a stewmaster. But we-

- Wait a minute. They were what?

- They were arrested for impersonating a stewmaster.

- [Stan] Who arrested them?

- Chief TC Cowan of the Brunswick City Police.

- [Stan] These guys were stirring their stew and they got arrested?

- They got arrested. But we convinced the chief to let 'em out on bail long enough to finish cooking and serving their stew. And then I think they left town before court was held, so they never had to make a formal appearance before a judge and have justice rendered on them.

- [Stan] That sounds like this is part of the trouble between Virginia and Georgia?

- Just fact. You keep doing it.

- [Stan] Mary, are you the wife of this man?

- I am his wife.

- [Stan] Do you think that that's a true story?

- It is a true story. My husband is absolutely correct.

- [Stan] He told me that you had a stew dog.

- I do have a stew dog.

- [Stan] Where is he?

- He visits every Stewbilee. Come on, Liam.

- [Stan] Is he a judge?

- He is a judge. A few wags of the tail and we know that's no good. The more wags of the tail is how we decide. Is number of wags of tail.

- [Stan] I see.

- He will be there. He will taste every stew, and this boy knows his stew.

- [Stan] Now there's something underneath this. I know that there's something underneath. I keep hearing-

- There is. That's our stew macaw.

- [Stan] Can I see the stew macaw?

- You can see our stew macaw. Now, our stew macaw, she's a little bit of a cannibal but she does try various meat, including chicken, which is difficult for her. But she is so absolutely sure of herself in her taste. She knows the best.

- [Stan] Well, you know up in Virginia, the first stews that were made were made squirrel and with parrots.

- Well, she's laughing because you are not scaring her. She knows her stew and parrots are not used in stew here in Brunswick, Georgia. You hear her laughing.

- [Stan] I do hear her laughing.

- Parrots do not taste good, contrary to popular belief. It's in her heart. Parrots do not taste good. Virginia, don't try parrots. Baby is sure that parrots do not taste good.

♪ You brought the hard tack trusty dew ♪

♪ I'm lost in the woods was black as night ♪

♪ Yet I must travel alone ♪

♪ I'm riding on that midnight train ♪

♪ My head is hanging low ♪

- [Stan] Now, what's an official taster?

- Well, everybody's an official taster that has one of these badges on them.

- [Stan] Well, are they special people that have the badges on them?

- Yeah, they're people that has the bowl ticket.

♪ These awful blues will follow me wherever I may go ♪

- It's an old recipe. It's the recipe that Moses brought down from the mountain top with the simple edition of pork and it's just a very basic stew. Nothing fancy, just built and cooked right. Its taken three days to get this whole stew put together and ready to go here.

- Good, very good.

- [Stan] Which is the best so far for you?

- Brunswick Station

- It's my secret weapon. My stew dog Liam.

- [Mary] Look at that tail, look! That's at least 20 wags.

♪ North south east west Glynn County schools make the best ♪

- Oh wait, I'm back in the cafeteria now. I'm getting the warm fuzzies.

♪ Why oh why was I ever born I'll never understand ♪

♪ Fall in love with a woman like you ♪

♪ Who's in love with another man ♪

♪ I'm riding on that midnight train ♪

♪ My head is hanging low ♪

♪ These awful blues will follow me wherever I may go ♪

- Stan, I think I'm gonna have to abandon you now 'cause it's about noon and I'm gonna have to go inside and judge.

- [Stan] Well, judge well, John.

- Thank you, see you later.

- Back in '88, '89 and '90, the Virginia teams came down here and competed in Stew Wars. We won first place the first year. They won first place the second year and we won the rights back first place the third year. But the rivalry still continues. They still claim to have the original pot of Brunswick stew.

- [Stan] How do you feel about that?

- I think we have it.

- Yeah?

- Definitely. Whenever we started out at 1988 doing this, I asked God to give me a recipe that everyone would love, and that's exactly what happened. He gave us a recipe that everybody likes. I've never found anybody that didn't like our Brunswick stew.

- Each juror has a number. And the judges don't know where that number is associated with. So this is number three.

- Well, here we are, Stan. This is the mecca of Brunswick stewdom right here. This is the nexus.

- I'm originally from Virginia. And Brunswick stew up there, we put squirrel and rabbit in ours. Down here it's chicken, mainly. But the stew here in Georgia is delicious. I think it is the original. Now that I'm a Georgia resident, I think it is the original.

- And this is a combination of Brunswick Maine stew, Brunswick Georgia stew and one little thing we got out of the the "Miami Herald." So it's a combination of all three.

- I like a Brunswick stew that has more meat in it. It's more of a thicker consistency and has the meat in it and a good spicy flavor to it.

- I'm looking for something that almost has a little bit of tartness to it.

- I just kind of wait for the student to talk to me. When it talks to me I know that's the one.

- [Stan] Have you had one talking to you yet?

- One's talking to me now.

- [Stan] Let me see your Daddy Peppers stew.

- [Competitor] There's some right there. See the red right there? We put about 12 to 15 peppers, diced up real fine, just for flavor.

- [Stan] Now you're not gonna scare the judges off with that chili pepper stew?

- No, sir. We go for that nice little burn right down your throat. Not scorching hot, but a flavor that when you take a bite of it, you can taste it right down there.

- [Stan] Where'd your stew come from?

- North Georgia. It's the second generation out of North Georgia. Family's come from that area up there and it's been passed down for two generations. And we've kind of modified it over the years, but hopefully we've got it perfected now. We think that this is gonna be the one that's gonna win.

- Number seven. Seven, seven.

- [Announcer] Anyone not have entry seven?

- Look at that. Nice and meaty, nice and meaty.

- [Announcer] Does anyone not have entry number eight?

- I've been doing a little Brunswick's too for the last eight or 10 years and I was thinking about entering here, but I decided not to this time, but next time I am going to enter my stew. I do a good stew. It takes me about a whole day long to do it, but I do a good stew.

- [Stan] Now where'd you get your recipe from?

- My grandfather.

- [Stan] Now, did he cook when you were born?

- Yes he did. Cushioned an old wash pot up in Jenkins County, Georgia.

- [Stan] Is that right?

- Yes, he did.

- [Stan] And what kind of stew was it, and did you see any stew here today that were similar to it?

- Yes I did. Several of those I tasted today. I saw several similar and I said, "Oh, I can do this myself."

- [Stan] What do you remember, what's your first memories of that old black pot and cooking Brunswick stew?

- Well, a good memory of that old pot was my mother used wash pots to wash clothes or to boil clothes in. So we used for twofold purpose. After they finished washing the clothes, then we'd give it a good washing out with good soap and water, and then my grandfather would do Brunswick stew in there.

- I like this bowling alley effect. The way you assembled your cups. I think that's orderly and and it looks good.

- Well, I had to be able to go back, you know? Look, 10.

- [Stan] What can you tell about his here?

- He's from up north. He's from Atlanta. One cup is is on a tilt. It's liable to fall over and stew spill out, which is somewhat reckless.

- I appreciate getting a free lunch, actually.

- [Stan] What they gonna do with the computer?

- They're gonna tabulate all the results in there on an Excel spreadsheet, an average amount, throw out the biggest one and the littlest one and then get a winner.

♪ You know mama's in the kitchen ♪

♪ She needs some wood oh yeah ♪