A Delicious Georgia Mystery: Who Really Invented Brunswick Stew?

One of the first things you learn about the American South is that people are serious about their food, and even more serious about the stories behind it. Barbecue styles are a source of intense regional pride, and every family has a secret recipe for biscuits. But one of the most interesting culinary debates I’ve discovered is the mystery of Brunswick Stew.

This thick, savory stew—traditionally made with a tomato base, corn, lima beans, other vegetables, and some kind of meat—is a staple at any Southern barbecue or potluck. What makes it a puzzle is that two different places claim to have invented it: Brunswick County, Virginia, and the city of Brunswick, Georgia. And both have a very good story.

The Virginia claim dates back to 1828. The story goes that a Virginia state legislator named Dr. Creed Haskins went on a hunting expedition with some friends. While they were out, Dr. Haskins's camp cook, a man named Jimmy Matthews, hunted down some squirrels and stewed them with butter, onions, and stale bread. When the hunting party returned, they were initially skeptical but ended up loving the concoction. A plaque on a stew pot in Brunswick County, Virginia, proudly proclaims this as the origin story.

The Georgia claim is more recent, dating to 1898. On St. Simons Island, right off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia, a group of local men were preparing a large stew for a community dinner. The recipe, attributed to a man named S. S. O'Quinn, included corn, vegetables, and meat, and was cooked in a large iron pot. A plaque in Brunswick, Georgia, and a monument holding the supposed original pot, commemorates this event as the true birth of the stew.

So who is right? As a puzzle lover, I decided to look at the evidence. The Virginia story is much older, which gives it a strong claim. However, the ingredients of the Georgia stew—with its corn, tomatoes, and lima beans—are much closer to what most people today would recognize as modern Brunswick Stew. The original Virginia "squirrel gravy" is a distant relative at best.

The debate is a fun and friendly rivalry. In the 1980s, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a resolution officially declaring Brunswick, Georgia, as the stew's birthplace. Not to be outdone, the Virginia General Assembly passed its own resolution declaring Brunswick County, Virginia, the true home.

What I find most interesting is not who is right, but why it matters so much to people. The fight over Brunswick Stew isn't just about a recipe; it's about local identity. It's about a community's pride in its own unique history and culinary traditions. It’s a story of how food becomes more than just food; it becomes a part of a place's very soul.

In the end, it’s a puzzle with no clear solution, and maybe that's the point. Both stories are a wonderful piece of Southern folklore. And no matter where it was invented, I'm just glad that someone did. It’s a delicious mystery, and one I'm happy to continue "investigating" one bowl at a time.