Brunswick Stew: The Pride of Brunswick County Virginia (1999)

About the Film

The original feature length version - BRUNSWICK STEW : A Southern Americana Folk Heritage Tradition - was produced for the people of Brunswick County, Virginia, who honor this tradition and maintain it through a system of stewmasters and stew crews who cook for their constituent community. This documentary premiered at the Virginia State Fair on "Brunswick Stew Day" in 1998. It was a day devoted to the stewmasters and stew crews from Brunswick County which lays claim to being "The Original Home of Brunswick Stew". The stewmasters and crews each cooked their unique recipes for their stew which fair attendees sampled. In the afternoon the stewmasters were paraded thriugh the fairgrounds and taken to an auditorium where friends, relatives, invitees, and folks from all over with Brunswick County roots attended the "World Premier" of this documentary. Each stewmaster received special recognition with a framed citation signed by the Governor noting these men as "Virginia Treasures". When news of this hit the papers, it once again set off a response from "the insensed citizenry in Brunswick, GA...and the Stew Wars were ignited again. The origins of this conflict is documented in both this documentary and more elaborated upon in Stan Woodward's sequel titled, BRUNSWICK STEW: Georgia Named Her; Georgia Claims Her.