10/21/2026
Historic Foodways: Brunswick Stew from The Körner’s Folly Cookbook by Beth Tartan 🍲
As the weather turns, it’s a great time to shift into soup (or stew) mode! Brunswick Stew is a fall favorite in North Carolina, though both Brunswick County in Virginia and the city of Brunswick in Georgia lay claim to the origin of this recipe. Interestingly, the name of the stew could also have developed from the city of Braunschweig, or Brunswick, in the northern German Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, from which both American locations derived their names.
Although ingredients vary widely, this stew is traditionally tomato-based, containing corn, okra, peas or beans (especially limas or butter beans), potatoes, and one or more types of meat, including chicken or pork, but also small game such as squirrel, rabbit, or opossum. 🍅
📖 Find the recipe on page 125 of The Körner’s Folly Cookbook!
Ingredients:
1 hogs head or fresh Boston butt
1 hen or 2 large fryers
4 large cans (No. 2 1/2) tomatoes
1 bottle tomato catsup
4 cans (No. 2) garden peas, drained
4 cans (No. 2) butter beans, drained
2 cans (No. 2) cream-style corn
2 cans (No. 2) whole kernel corn
4 cups diced potatoes, cooked
4 good size onions, diced
Worcestershire sauce, sugar, Texas Pete (hot pepper sauce), salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Cook meat and chicken until tender. Retain the broth from the chicken and fat from the chicken and pork.
2. Dice the meat and combine with tomatoes and onions. Cook until the onion is tender.
3. Add drained peas, drained butter beans, catsup, and seasonings. Cook until well blended.
4. Add potatoes and corn last.
5. Add broth from the cooked chicken as needed and season with fat from the chicken and pork.
📝 Recipe submitted by Mrs. Vernon Atkins.
