Where Does Brunswick Stew Actually Come From?

Before we ask where Brunswick stew comes from, it's worth asking what Brunswick stew is in the first place. Despite having a remarkably New England-sounding name, Brunswick stew is a Southern specialty, a tomato-based stew that has historically consisted of just about anything people could cobble together. (It's part of a long tradition of throwing whatever you have in a pot and cooking it that also includes dishes like budae jjigae, or Korean Army Base Stew.) The meat of the stew is usually chicken or pulled pork, but in lean times rabbit or even squirrel has been used instead. In terms of vegetables, people made use of whatever was convenient — mostly onions, corn, and beans (lima or butter, depending on where they were).

Brunswick stew is a staple of Southern hospitality, even though there's some disagreement as to where in the South it came from. There are two different places, one in Virginia and one in Georgia, that claim to be the origin of Brunswick stew — and some argue that it goes back even further than that.

In the town of Brunswick, Georgia, there is a great big iron pot standing on a stone pedestal. The pedestal states that the first Brunswick stew was cooked in that very pot on July 2, 1898, on the nearby barrier island St. Simons Island. Although the pedestal provides no further details, there is a recipe for "camp stew"  in a cookbook from antebellum Georgia that's similar to the Brunswick stew we know today (stew has long been a standby easy, unglamorous camping food).

Brunswick County, Virginia, has a more complete origin story. According to local legend, it was Jimmy Matthews, the enslaved cook of Virginia state legislator Creed Haskins, that first created Brunswick stew (using squirrels and stale bread) during a hunting trip led by Haskins in 1828. Whether this is any more true than Georgia's claim is unclear, but both states have certainly taken to the stew: The Brunswick Rockin' Stewbilee in Georgia and Taste of Brunswick in Virginia are annual festivals that prominently feature the stew.

Beyond Virginia and Georgia, there are alternative theories as to the origin of Brunswick stew. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, best known for the Pulitzer-winning novel "The Yearling," also wrote a cookbook of rural favorites called "Cross Creek Cookery." In it, Rawlings claims that Brunswick stew was a favorite of Queen Victoria's, and that the dish originated in Braunschweig, Germany — the Anglicized name of which is "Brunswick."

Others assert that the dish (like Rhode Island johnnycakes) is likely of indigenous origin.  Native American tribes in the Southeastern United States would routinely make large communal stews of seasonal vegetables, like corn and beans, and add any kind of meat that was handy, such as rabbit or squirrel. It goes to show that finding neat, tidy origin stories for certain dishes is often a fool's errand: When the dish is as simple as throwing whatever's convenient into a pot, chances are it's been around for a long, long time.