Bring on the Burgoo!

Burgoo is a Kentucky stew that originally was made with any wild game on hand: squirrel, rabbit, venison, whatever they could throw in the pot. Today’s version of burgoo is a mix of beef, tomatoes, mixed vegetables, sherry, red wine, and such spices as thyme, sage, and black pepper. 

Documentary filmmaker Stan Woodward of North Carolina, who recently made a film about Southern stews, is working on a separate documentary on burgoo. His research brought him to Central and Western Kentucky recently to gather footage about Kentucky’s burgoo tradition.

There are many versions of the history of burgoo, and it’s hard to tie down a single origin. That was one of the things that prompted the folklorist to study Kentucky’s burgoo culture. “The answers we were really interested in tracking down must come from the voices of the people as practitioners.”

When Woodward began research in 2001, he found that the “folks who cook burgoo today think locally in terms of ‘I remember my great-grandpa cooked it. That’s as far back as I know.’ ”

Most cultural geographers and historians think of burgoo globally, tracing the concoction back to early settlements along the Ohio River and its Kentucky River tributary when this was frontier country and the black iron wash pot had multiple functions, one of which was keeping a ‘varmint’ stew going, Woodward said.

“What we think is wonderful is that the story of burgoo is hard to pin down and has a mystery to it. It has shown multiple threads that disappear into the hazy past of myth, legend, family and church traditions and tales of cooking a subsistence meal in one pot for large numbers - whether frontier families or Confederate soldiers who were excellent marksmen and could fill a pot with anything that moved (and wasn’t human,)” he said.

When hunters killed various game animals for food, the different meats sometimes found their way into the same kettle. The stew included choice bits of buffalo, deer, elk, bear and turkey. This mixture was seasoned, usually with sage and red pepper. Whatever vegetables were available were added.

“Those who partook of the stew sought out whichever meats and vegetables they preferred. The stew always had something of a mystery about it, since almost anything edible might turn up in the pot. It enjoyed great popularity, however, at social gatherings, particularly in the mountainous areas, and has come down to us as burgoo,” Otis K. Rice wrote in Kentucky Hospitality, a 200-Year Tradition.

Burgoo has been a part of the traditional barbecue in Western Kentucky since the early 1800s, said John Egerton, who researched Kentucky traditions for his book Southern Food.

Burgoo’s mystique has lingered through generations, and each section of the state has its own noted burgoo makers and favorite recipes. The most famous was Gus Jaubert of Lexington.

According to the story in Kentucky Hospitality, Jaubert provided 30,000 gallons of burgoo for more than 200,000 members of the Grand Army of the Republic at Louisville in 1895. Jaubert was known as the “burgoo king,” and when he died in 1920, J.T. Looney of Lexington inherited Jaubert’s title and one of his huge iron kettles.

 One of Central Kentuckians favorite places to get burgoo is at Keeneland Race Course. The concession stands at the track serve more than 300 gallons of burgoo a day during race meets.

Burgoo has been served at the track since it opened in 1936, and today the stew is one of the most talked about items on the menu. When out-of-state racing fans ask what’s in burgoo, native Kentuckians will sometimes tell them rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, grouse, venison, quail and a few vegetables. But today’s version features pork and beef instead of the game and fowl that was once popular.

 Burgoo was served only in the track’s elegant dining room until 1968.  James E. “Ted” Bassett III, who was chairman of the board at Keeneland at that time, visited a New York track and came back with the idea of serving burgoo at the concession stands. He said to Turf Catering owner Larry Wolken, “If New York can serve clam chowder at their concession stands, why can’t we serve burgoo?”

Keeneland’s burgoo recipe is virtually the same as it was in 1936 except for the game meat.

This recipe for burgoo is from Kentucky Hospitality.

Burgoo 

1 pound pork shank

1 pound beef shank

1 pound breast of lamb

1 pound veal shank

Half of a 4-pound fat hen

4 quarts water

1⁄2 bunch parsley

1 cup cabbage

1 green pepper

2 carrots

2 onions

2 potatoes

1 pint tomatoes

1 cup corn

1 pod red pepper

1⁄2 cup lima beans

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Cayenne pepper and salt to taste

Boil meats in water until tender. Remove from broth. Cool. Remove meat from bones and dice. Chop parsley, cabbage and green pepper. Peel and dice carrots, onions and potatoes. Combine all ingredients in meat stock and cook until thick (about 2 hours).  Makes 12 servings.