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Union County Burgoo
6 SQUIRRELS, CUT IN PIECES 6 CHICKENS, CUT IN PIECES 6 POUNDS BEEF, CUT IN PIECES I POUND BACON, CUT IN PIECES I PECK POTATOES, DICED 2 QUARTS STRING BEANS I PECK TOMATOES I GALLON ONIONS, CUT FINE 2 QUARTS LIMA BEANS 2 QUARTS CORN 2 QUARTS OKRA 6 CARROTS I PACKAGE SPAGHETTI SALT AND BLACK PEPPER, TO TASTE RED PEPPER, TO "BURN" It is necessary to have 2 large iron kettles, a slow-burning wood fire, a large wooden paddle for stirring, and "a big, black brother" to operate the business end of the paddle. Put the meat in one kettle, cover with cold water, and cook until meat falls completely to pieces and a great deal of the water is cooked away. Cook all vegetables together, with seasonings, in the other kettle. When meat is done, add to vegetables and refill meat kettle with water to add to burgoo when it gets too thick. Cook slowly 4-5 hours-the longer the better and keep "that colored brother" stirring all the time. It should be very thick, but still "soupy." This will make about 10 gallons. From this traditional recipe it would seem that a prime ingredient is the labor of a "colored brother," and perhaps that accounts for the falling off of gigantic burgoo feasts when the slaves were freed and some of us white folks had to get to work.
Mrs. Margaret W. Davis, who sent this mouth-watering recipe, says that's the way burgoo is made in Union County, and she can prove it by Judge Perry B. Miller, who says "it's the best on earth." She adds that on the radio Irvin Cobb put the accent in the wrong place "by calling it Burgoo. That boy has forgotten his raisin' -for down in the Pennyrile where he comes from it is Burgoo."
This is a festival-scale recipe: roughly ten gallons, cooked outdoors in two kettles over wood. Everything below assumes you either want that scale or intend to divide it down.
- Scale and divisionTen gallons is about 160 cups, or 80-100 servings. Dividing by six gives a very large stockpot's worth and keeps the proportions intact; the meats and vegetables all scale cleanly.
- Dry measuresA peck is 8 dry quarts. A peck of potatoes runs roughly 12-15 lb, a peck of tomatoes about 12-13 lb. A gallon of finely cut onions is roughly 5 lb.
- SquirrelSix squirrels yield perhaps 2-3 lb of meat, dark and lean. Where squirrel is not available or not in season, rabbit is a common stand-in; another 3 lb of chicken thighs will also work, though the broth loses its gaminess.
- The two-kettle methodThe meats go in one pot with cold water and cook to collapse, the vegetables in the other, and the two are combined once the meat falls to pieces.
- Reserved brothRefilling the emptied meat kettle with water is the recipe's thinning stock. Keep it hot and near at hand; adding cold water to a thickening burgoo drops the temperature and encourages scorching on the bottom.
- Stirring is not optionalWith this much starch from potatoes, corn, lima beans and pasta over a wood fire, the pot will catch and burn the moment it is left alone. A long paddle reaching the bottom corners, worked continuously, is the whole technique.
- The spaghetti"One package" was most likely a one-pound box. Break it into short lengths and add it in the last 30-45 minutes, or it will dissolve entirely over four hours.
- SeasoningSalt in stages rather than at the start; the pot reduces considerably and an early heavy hand becomes inedible. The red pepper "to burn" means cayenne.
- Cooling a large batchTen gallons of thick stew holds heat for many hours. Portion leftovers into shallow pans no more than two inches deep and refrigerate promptly rather than letting the kettle stand overnight.