folo

When I did that Hundred Southern Food list, I included some items I had never eaten. One was burgoo, which I knew was a Kentucky soup somewhat kin to Brunswick stew. I had tried Brunswick stew over the years (including a version with squirrel, which some would say is an essential ingredient, and the version served at Fresh Air barbecue, a Georgia barbecue place whose version of the soup I’ll have to admit to not much liking).

There was some debate about including burgoo– some said it was really just what people in Kentucky called Brunswick Stew, and others argued that Kentucky or Owensboro (on the River, where burgoo is a part of the mutton barbecue tradition) are not in the south. There’s some evidence for non-southern claims to the soup. Arenzville, Illinois, for instance, claims to make the greatest burgoo in the world, staging an annual September “burgoo,” where the community comes together for a two day festival of cooking a soup, kind of reminding me of stone soup. Since Arenzville is all the way up near Springfield, it does raise questions about the Southernness of this dish I’ve always associated with Kentucky.

It’s my understanding that burgoo was traditionally cooked in gigantic quantities all over Kentucky, particularly at things like political events (much like fish fries and barbecues all over the south to this day).

Well, debating aside, thanks to the generosity of folo friend shaveswithOccamsrazor, I’ve eaten burgoo. He sent me a copious care package from the Moonlite Barbecue in Owensboro– burgoo, country ham, a hot and very hot barbecue sauce (for outlanders, presumably, they’ve labeled it “sauce” and not “dip,” which is what they call it in that part of the world. Since barbucue up there is mostly mutton, I guess this means they put sheep dip on their ‘cue), dried beans for what looks like it will make an excellent mixed bean soup, and chow chow, all with a nice wooden box I will use to hold the utensils the next time I cook a whole hog.

So how was it? It was a moderately thick, tomato-y vegetable stew with potatoes and corn, a clear taste of worchestershire, and a bit of a wang from the mutton that’s part of the recipe around Ownesboro. I liked it (considerably more so than the Brunswick Stew at Fresh Air). I think anyone who’d had both would say they were distinct, although they are clearly close kin.

I do get pretty mixed reports about mutton in Owensboro, as the documentary noted below will attest. Their claim to be the barbecue capital of the world is of course an epic misunderstanding.

Here’s a link to a Kitchen Sisters radio documentary about Burgoo and Owensboro, Kentucky.  And below is a documentary about mutton and Owensboro, with a side-trip into burgoo, by food documentarian extraordinare Joe York and the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Mutton: The Movie from Joe York on Vimeo.