Secrets of Old Virginia Brunswick Stew

Is anyone interested in learning some little known secrets of making old Virginia Brunswick stew? If so, I am happy to post them. The old timers had a particular way of cooking the delicious stew. I am willing to share them in the interest of preserving and spreading the tradition.

Here is the first secret. Cook the chicken, onions and fatback or bacon (cooks choice) first. For small batches (1 gallon or less) use bone in, skin on chicken thighs and remove the skin and bones after the meat is pull tender. If cooking large batches, just use boneless, skinless thighs.

Also, dice the onions and bacon/fatback. Add it all to the pot and cover with water. Let it simmer, stirring often, until the chicken is pull tender.

Here is the first pic of the chicken, bacon, and onion cooking. In this pot, I am cooking about 10 pounds of chicken, 1/2 pound of diced bacon, and 3 pounds of diced onions. When I finish, I should have about 6 gallons of stew.



More pics and technique as the cook progresses.

This cook is for a fund raiser for my Indian tribe which is the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia. This is a trial cook just to test the waters as it's the first time my tribe has ever done a cook like this. If it's successful, and I believe it will be, we will do a big 40 gallon cook a little later in the season.

The chicken, onions and bacon have been cooking for about 2 hours. Here is what you want to see before you start adding more ingredients. There are no identifiable pieces of onion or bacon/fatback. Just pull tender chicken meat. This is the kind of info that you don't get from a recipe book.



The old timers used to call this stage of doneness "spoon meat." Virginia Indians, Africans, and Europeans used to cook stews to this level of doneness all the time. It's a characteristic of many of our traditional American stews that result from the combined cooking techniques of Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans.

Now that the chicken has turned into strings and is pull tender, it's time to start adding seasonings and other ingredients.

More pics coming in the morning if I have good enough Internet access. Otherwise, I will post them when I am connected.

Lot's more info on the cooking technique and traditional recipe too!

Once the chicken, onions and bacon are done, add in the tomatoes and potatoes. I also add a little of the beans at this stage too. Some use canned crushed tomatoes but I prefer to use canned whole tomatoes and crush them myself. I put the tomatoes in an aluminum pan and crushed the tomatoes with my hands Then I use a pizza cutter to cut them up. Add them to the pot with the potatoes. Let it all simmer until the tomatoes and potatoes are fall apart tender. This should take about another hour. I also like to take a potato masher to the pot at this point too. It helps crush the potatoes, beans and tomatoes.



Notice at this point there very few identifiable pieces of potato in the pot. Now, it's time to add the beans. Let them cook until done.



When the beans are done, add the corn and butter. In another half hour you will have an authentic, old school Virginia Brunswick stew.



I added a little of the juice from the corn cans after this pic just to thin it slightly.

Keep in mind, you have to stir this stuff almost continuously. That not only prevents it from scorching but constant stirring is what develops the proper texture. If you look just to the upper right of the paddle you will see the obligatory kidney bean. Seems there is always one in every pot. One sneaks into just about every package of frozen or canned lima beans.