Old Kentucky Colonels Burgoo

[cowdery]

I just came across this and thought I'd share it. This is the official burgoo recipe of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, first published in 1946 and used since 1934 at official Colonels events.

Ingredients:

2 lb. each ground veal, lamb, pork and beef

1 whole chicken

5 lb. veal bones (optional)

1 can tomato paste

1 no. 2 can of each: tomato puree, whole tomatoes, corn and peas

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 pounds each butter beans, chopped onion, and diced potatoes

1 whole lemon

1 whole orange

salt, cayenne, pepper, worchestershire sauce, and sherry, to taste

Add to 3-4 gallons chicken broth or water. Cook in an iron kettle over an open fire for 24 hours, occasionally stirring. Makes 5 gallons.

[callmeox]

I thought that burgoo had Possum in it, or am I thinking of something else?

Granny's vittles, perhaps??

[cowdery]

I thought that burgoo had Possum in it, or am I thinking of something else?

Granny's vittles, perhaps??

[squire]

A departed elderly acquaintance of mine from Ky told me burgoo was a way of softening up a hunk of mutton.

[Josh]

A departed elderly acquaintance of mine from Ky told me burgoo was a way of softening up a hunk of mutton.

[squire]

Reminds me of the Cajun kid carrying a recently killed hawk stopped by a game warden on a country road.

Warden: whatcha goin do with that hawk son.

Kid: goin make me some gumbo.

Warden: hawk make good gumbo?

Kid; bout like eagle.

I think of burgoo as KY gumbo.

[ratcheer]

The recipe reminds me a lot of the Brunswick stew we have eaten in the Deep South for a long time.

Tim

[smokinjoe]

The recipe reminds me a lot of the Brunswick stew we have eaten in the Deep South for a long time.

Tim

Ahhhh, it's been so long since I've had a good homemade Brunswick Stew. When I was a kid, Mrs. Barfield down the street, made it regularly, and in quantities that could fill a whiskey barrel. She basically fed the neighborhood for a week, with it. Absolutely, delicious. I had a hankerin' for it here last week. So, I just bought a can of Castleberry's over the weekend, as I had found that for "out of the can", it wasn't too bad. Well, things have changed for the worse. Nowhere good as I remember it. You're right Tim, Burgoo and Brunswick are similar. I remember Bettye Jo's as being really good Burgoo. :yum:

[OscarV]

Actually this Burgoo stuff sounds kinda nasty.

Boiling down meat to a mushy pulp just doesn't sound good.

[cas]

A little armadillo in there and you've got a meal.

Craig

[cowdery]

Certainly in Western Kentucky burgoo will usually contain mutton. Western Kentucky is also famous for its mutton barbecue, which can be wonderful. The very idea of a 'recipe' is a concession to modern plentitude. Traditional burgoo would have used whatever was available, and probably in roughly cut chunks rather than ground. Recipes evolve. I lived in Kentucky for nine years. I mostly associate it with Derby festival, as it is usually available at most Derby events. It's chili without the chili pepper, if that makes any sense.

[Gillman]

Burgoo is, like many apparently local things, of British origin ultimately. It was a dish eaten on ships and originally was a gruel, made of bulgher wheat - burghul is an alternate spelling and pronunciation and it is easy to see how the term burgoo came from that. It was originally and still is a communal dish. Probably as Chuck says whatever was to hand went in but the key to it was the starchy base and it still has that. It can be potatos or farina or any other starchy base, cornmeal mush is sometimes used. Once it was served on ships and later at gatherings for various community purposes.

All these things if you look far enough back are British if they are not Indian, sometimes Dutch (coleslaw is - koolslaw - cabbage salad) or German (frankurts and hamburgers) or something else, but the U.K. provided the bulk of the population to America in the old days and it would be folly to think many of the old American dishes came anywhere but from the old sod.

Gary