Anonymous wrote:Marylander, but a PA native. Never heard of this. Followed the pp festival link. Um, no thanks.
"Dr. Creed Haskins’ Brunswick County hunting parties were well known in the 1820’s. Guests would spend convivial time together hunting and discussing the issues of the dat knowing that good food awaited them when the day was over. They could depend on a delicious repast because Dr. Haskins’ chef, Jimmy Matthews, traveled with the hunting party. Jimmy was not only a fine chef and a willing camp cook but also an experienced and able hunter with a masterful record when it came to providing squirrel for his recipe. There was a bubbling hot squirrel stew on the campfire waiting for the hungry hunters’ return. It won immediate acclaim. That same stew recipe — Jimmy’s recipe of squirrel meat, bacon, onion, bread, seasonings and butter — has been handed down for generations. Though today’s official recipes include vegetables and many cooks replace squirrel with chicken, it was Jimmy’s first stew that gave birth to today’s famous Virginia’s own Brunswick Stew."
You’ve never heard of Brunswick stew? Virginian here although not super popular definitely at Homestyle restaurants in south Virginia.