Above: 2005 Kentucky Folklife Festival visitors gaze upon a hot kettle of bubbling burgoo.
Hello, I'm Mark Brown with the Kentucky Folklife Program, and this is my first History Burgoo blog post. My friend and colleague Sarah Milligan suggested that someone write something about burgoo, the traditional stew for which this blog is named. I accepted the opportunity to share some experiences, encounters, and thoughts related to burgoo.
Lest this post become a large block of uninterrupted text, here is a list of some facts about burgoo that I have learned while working as a folklorist in Kentucky:
- No one is certain about the origins of the word burgoo.
- When saying the word, some people place emphasis on the first syllable, “bur-goo,” while others say “bur-goo.”
- Burgoo is almost exclusively a Kentucky food. It is similar in some ways to Brunswick Stew found elsewhere in the southern U.S.
- Early burgoo recipes called for whatever ingredients were available. Meats included beef, pork, and chicken as well as wild game like deer, possum, and squirrel. Vegetables like corn, beans, and potatoes were added, along with various seasonings and thickening agents.
- Today, many burgoo-makers keep their recipes secret, but most burgoos made for the public do not include wild game anymore.
- Burgoo is cooked for long periods of time, often overnight, and it is considered ready to eat only after the stirring stick can be released to stand on its own in the pot.
- Historically, burgoo was linked to celebrations like abundant harvest and successful hunt. Still a celebratory food, today burgoo is sold at many social, political, charitable, and religious gatherings.
State folklorist Bob Gates asserts that Everyone Likes Food, especially folklorists. Foodways is a major topic of study by folklorists and anthropologists because it is something every group of people, or folk group, has. Almost every human consumes some type of food. Foodways includes not only ingredients and recipes, but the context surrounding foods, which includes when, where, why, how, for whom, and by whom food is prepared and eaten.
One way to learn about someone’s cultural background, aesthetics, and identity is to ask about food. Sometimes food questions trigger fervent responses that reflect deep-seated beliefs. Here is an example: sweet cornbread – manna from heaven, or impious abomination?
When engaged in such lively conversations, most folklorists try to adhere to an ethic of cultural relativism, meaning no culture is superior or inferior to another. We are trained to recognize our own beliefs and practices, and be aware of how they affect our work.
Now is a good time to disclose that I’ve been a vegetarian since 1996. Before that time, though, I ate burgoo on at least two occasions at the famous Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn in Owensboro, and I remember it clearly. Its unique aroma, color, texture, and flavor made a lasting impression. Moonlite’s website includes their version of the Burgoo Soup Story and a Burgoo Recipe.
Besides Moonlite, burgoo is available in many other Kentucky locations. Downtown Lawrenceburg, Kentucky is home to the Anderson County Burgoo Festival. Every year in late September, this festival is a popular pilgrimage to what some recognize as “the burgoo capital of the world.” I attended one evening in 2004 when vendors, shocked to have underestimated the demand, were entirely sold out of burgoo.
The Kentucky Folklife Program has documented several burgoo specialists, and presented some of them at the Kentucky Folklife Festival. These include Russ Kennedy of Frankfort, David New of Owenton, and the green-and-yellow-clad burgoo team from St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Owensboro.
In 2005, filmmaker Stan Woodward received a Kentucky Arts Council Folk Arts Project grant to support research on his film Burgoo! which aired on KET. Woodward teamed up with folklorist Saddler Taylor to present an exciting exploration of burgoo and the culture surrounding it, including ingredients, implements, techniques, differences in burgoos made in western and central Kentucky, and enlightening interviews with burgoo masters.
Whether you love burgoo or can’t stand being near it, I hope you have enjoyed reading about this quintessential Kentucky food phenomenon. These days, I don’t miss eating burgoo or any other carnivore delights, but I love vegetarian foods that are supposed to taste like meat (not-dogs, tofurkey, facon, etc.). What to you think, readers? Is there a market for vegetarian burgoo? If so, by what clever name would it be known?
* The post title is not a typo, but a reference to the classic Internet meme “All your base are belong to us.”
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