Burgoo [was: "Wanted: Homemade Bourbon BBQ Sauce Recipe]

[cowdery]

I once had a girlfriend who was very country and she used to tell about, when she was married, her husband going out in the morning and shooting a couple of squirrels, and she would fry them up for breakfast. That blew my mind, urban Yankee that I am.

She also married the guy when she was 16 and he was 21, and she wasn't even pregnant. Now that's country.

[gr8erdane]

I wonder what neighbors would think if I got a gun out and shot a few squirrels for some burgoo.

Oh my goodness, you would sure be hard up to shoot city squirrels if they're anything like their St Louis City cousins. Practically tree rats here in the city. Got to go out in the country for good squirrel. Nothing beats a good squirrel gravy on hot biscuits (yes, made with lard). BTW, lard gets a bad rap. Everyone says it increases your cholesterol and clogs arteries. Anyone who ever handled the stuff would know it just lubricates the circulatory system into a platelet superhighway.

[gr8erdane]

No Chuck, if it was REAL country they would have courted for five years first and then gotten married at 16 and 21.

[boone]

I have read that mutton was substituted for game to lend a savoury "wild" taste.

Gary,

I had a post in this forum but deleted it through "pressure from my family". They would not let me leave it here. Oh Well, I don't know if you saw it but I hope you did Now that was "backwood's country"

To go over a tad bit of it. Burgoo was not burgoo unless it had wild game it it. Sheep ain't wild "around here" The types of meats used were rattlesnake, squirrel, rabbit, quail, turtle and like I mentioned before, opossum...Good grief they will hunt, kill and eat anything

BTW---When they told me opossum was in there there was no way I was gonna eat it! They have had goat roast up there and one time they had a "Ponie roast"...

Well Gaaaleeeeeee, Ethel..."Old Bess" is down out in that thar field so's how 'bout we have a shin dig? LMAO!!!!!!!

One more thing to add...Every year, the Sunday after the Derby Bardstown hosts the Kentucky Colonel's B-B-Q...The traditional "Burgoo" in always on the menu...It's a Kentucky tradition This is where that man from Scotland in one of those skirts, grabed one of my shoes, poured his beer into it, and downed it right before my eyes Just goes ta show ya...folks will eat most anything and drink from most anything too

[Gillman]

Thanks, Bettye Jo, most interesting. Clearly the Anerican burgoo has changed from the old British sailor dish which essentially was a kind of gruel, a porridge of bulghur wheat and/or other grains, I'm sure. Still, the texture that came from that survives, I think, in Kentucky's burgoo, except now it comes from the potatos, corn, okra dissolving in the liquid. (This inference is based on one I had in Louisville). Sounds like burgoo is something for special occasions as opposed to a, "Mom, what's for dinner tonight?"-type dish. Anyway, I'll try to get some game for my dish when I make it. You can purchase certain kinds of wild meat here (e.g. caribou, boars) and sounds like it might go well in that burgoo.

Question: has anyone ever heard of any kind of fish being used in burgoo, or is that a no-no?

Gary

[tlsmothers]

Yeah, the City squirrels walk right up to you and hold a gun to your head for some food. I laid down in the sun in the park the other day, and I feared for my life as the squirrels gathered around not afraid of much of anything. Rats with tails! Hmmm...now there's something wild to throw in burgoo...some New York City sewer rats!

[gr8erdane]

Be very careful, from what I hear of New York sewer rats, they are big enough to throw YOU in the burgoo.

[brendaj]

now there's something wild to throw in burgoo...some New York City sewer rats!

YeeeGawds! An' I thought it sounded gross when Gary mentioned fish...
Ya'll are starting to really creep me out...

[pepcycle]

I have been enjoying this Burgoo thread. I've asked some folks around here about what goes into burgoo.
Here are The Burgoo Rules as I understand them:
1. The meat must be acquired by acute lead poisoning. (That implies, you can't pick it up off the road, buy it or have it die on your property)You gotta shoot it.
2. You can use just about any type of meat.
3. Real Burgoo Gourmets include other gizzards as well as the tough cuts. I have it on good authority that squirrel brain is the preferred finishing touch, about the size of a walnut with a unique flavor and texture
4. Burgoo must be cooked a really long time. (No one really agrees, but in Lawrenceburg, they keep the same pot going for about 4 days during The Burgoo Festival, adding additional ingredients as they go)
5. A wood fire is preferred and bits of ash that float into the mixture are required. (pallet wood makes nice ash flakes)
6. The pot must be black. Most say cast iron, but the evidence is that any metal that has been over a fire long enough to be completely black on the outside is good.
7. You have to stir it with a big wooden paddle. No spoons or metal objects in the pot
8. Bite gently, lead shot is considered an acceptable hazard, like the occasional fish bone in fish stew.
9. The best burgoo is the one you're raised on. Regions are proud of their burgoo and nobody else's is considered "right".
10. Nobody puts bourbon in burgoo. Why? If people want bourbon flavor, there's no reason to put it in the burgoo. Just drink some. About as silly as bourbon flavored cigars.
11. I suggested that burgoo might be a "hunter's stew" and was told in no uncertain terms that burgoo was made at home and at fairs, not in the woods. No reason given. That was just silly. You fry it, grill it or roast it on a stick in the woods.
12. Nobody brings burgoo to a covered dish supper. (Couldn't decide if it was because they don't like to share it or they know that nobody else is going to think that their burgoo is "right".
13. You either love it or hate it. Half say they would never touch it, the other half swear its the best thing since The Hot Brown.
I continue to be amazed with interesting foods in Kentucky.
Here are some others that I never had before moving here:
1. Paw Paw: a mango like fruit that grows in clusters like bananas
2. Poke: A green made famous by Salad Annie, but apparently poisonous if not prepared correctly. (another story)
3. Fried Banana Peppers: Ya, just like it sounds.
4. Lamb Fries (with cream gravy): Fried, different
5. Hickory Nuts
6. Black Walnuts: Outrageously Walnutty
7. Tigger Melon: Orange and Yellow, grapefruit sized, tastes like cucumber and is used as an air freshener.
8. Wild Ginger
9. Ramp: Now this is the stinkiest leek/scallion-like thing you will ever eat. They grow wild in the spring. They sell for $18.00/lb in NY.
10.Ale-8-One: Winchester Swamp Water: The name is a play on words (A Late One) A sugary, caffeine ginger/citrus soda. Not really like any other. Now available in diet. The green bottle is the preferred projectile for roadside littering and bike rider whacking. (another story)

[Gillman]

Great, many thanks!

You've emulated my non-brevity but the information conveyed is commensurate!

Lamb fries. Ramp. Paw-paw. Wow!

Gary

P.s. What the heck is Hot Brown??