 Kentucky burgoo served with various side dishes | |
| Type | Stew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | North America, Great Britain |
| Region or state | Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia |
| Main ingredients | Meat (pork, chicken, or mutton) |
Burgoo is a stew, similar to Irish or Mulligan stew, often served with cornbread or corn muffins, that originated in Kentucky. It is often prepared communally as a social gathering. It is popular as the basis for civic fundraisers in the Upland South.
The term is of uncertain origin, possibly from the combination of the Welsh words for "yeast" and "cabbage". [1] The Oxford English Dictionary lists the origin as "Arabic: būrgu̇l cooked, parched, and crushed wheat, ultimately [from] Turkish bulgur". [2]
The first OED reference in English is from 1743 in J. Isham Observ. Hudsons Bay, defined as "a soup or stew made with a variety of meat and vegetables, used especially at outdoor feasts. North American." A 1753 reference from Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. reads "Burgoo, a sea-faring dish", likely with associations to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy (United Kingdom). An 1863 reference to G. A. Sala, Strange Adventures Capt. Dangerous (II.i.15)' specifies meat as an ingredient: "[He] had the best Beef and Burgoo at the Skipper's table." [3]
Traditional burgoo was made using whatever meats and vegetables were available—sometimes including venison, squirrel, opossum, raccoon, or even game birds—and was often associated with autumn and the harvest season. Today, local barbecue restaurants use a specific meat in their recipes, usually pork, chicken, or mutton,which, along with the spices used, creates a flavor unique to each restaurant.
A typical burgoo is a combination of meat and vegetables. Common meats are pork, chicken, beef, and/or mutton, often hickory-smoked, but other meats are seen occasionally. Common vegetables are lima beans, corn, okra, tomatoes, cabbage, and potatoes. Typically, since burgoo is a slow-cooked dish, the starch from the added vegetables results in the stew thickening. A thickening agent, such as cornmeal, ground beans, whole wheat, or potato starch, can be used when cooked in a nontraditional way. In addition, soup bone stocks can be added for taste and thickening.
The ingredients are combined in order of cooking time required, with meat first, vegetables next, and thickening agents as necessary. A spoon can reportedly stand up in a good burgoo. Cider vinegar, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or chili powder are common condiments.
Cooking burgoo in Kentucky often serves as a communal effort at social event in which each attendee brings one or more ingredients. In Kentucky and surrounding states, such as Indiana, burgoo is often used for school fundraising. This has been claimed as an invention of the family of Ollie Beard, a former Major League Baseball player. [4]
Many places hold great pride in their burgoos. It is a common feature in local events. The village of Arenzville, Illinois, asserts itself as the home of the world's best burgoo and holds a yearly burgoo festival, [5] as do Chandlerville, Illinois, [6] in Cass County and Utica, Illinois, in LaSalle County. Several cities claim to be the burgoo capital of the world, including Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, [7] Owensboro, Kentucky, [8] and Franklin, Illinois. [9] In Brighton, Illinois, a local traditional burgoo is prepared and served annually at the village's summer festival, the Betsey Ann Picnic. [10] At the Kentucky Derby, Burgoo is often served and is considered an iconic dish. [11]
Nabemono, or simply nabe, is a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one-pot dishes and "things in a pot".
Goulash is a soup or stew of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is a common meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but also in other parts of Europe. It is one of the national dishes of Hungary and a symbol of the country.
Polish cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other national cuisines. Polish cooking in other cultures is often referred to as à la polonaise.
Russian cuisine is a collection of the different dishes and cooking traditions of the Russian people as well as a list of culinary products popular in Russia, with most names being known since pre-Soviet times, coming from all kinds of social circles.
Pozole is a traditional soup or stew from Mexican cuisine. It is made from hominy with meat, and can be seasoned and garnished with shredded lettuce or cabbage, chili peppers, onion, garlic, radishes, avocado, salsa or limes. Known in Mesoamerica since the pre-Columbian era, the stew is common across Mexico and neighboring countries, served both as a day-to-day meal and as a festive dish.
Shabu-shabu is a Japanese nabemono hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound – "swish swish" – emitted when the ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot. The food is cooked piece by piece by the diner at the table. Shabu-shabu is generally more savory and less sweet than sukiyaki, another hot pot dish.
Peasant foods are dishes eaten by peasants, made from accessible and inexpensive ingredients.
Kare-kare is a Philippine stew that features a thick savory peanut sauce. It is generally made from a base of stewed oxtail, beef tripe, pork hocks, calves' feet, pig's feet or trotters, various cuts of pork, beef stew meat, and occasionally offal. Vegetables, such as eggplant, Chinese cabbage, or other greens, daikon, green beans, okra, and asparagus beans, are added. The stew is flavored with ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter, onions, and garlic. It is colored with annatto and can be thickened with toasted or plain ground rice. Variations of kare-kare can be made with seafood, such as prawns, squid, and mussels, or exclusively from vegetables.
The cuisine of Kentucky mostly resembles and is a part of traditional Southern cuisine. Some common dinner dishes are fried catfish and hushpuppies, fried chicken and country fried steak. These are usually served with vegetables such as green beans, greens, pinto beans slow-cooked with pork as seasoning and served with cornbread. Other popular items include fried green tomatoes, cheese grits, corn pudding, fried okra, and chicken and dumplings, which can be found across the commonwealth.
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.
Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a nonya, and a male Peranakan is known as a baba. The cuisine combines Chinese, Malay, Javanese, South Indian, and other influences.
Soups in East Asian culture are eaten as one of the many main dishes in a meal or in some cases served straight with little adornment, particular attention is paid to the soups' stocks. In the case of some soups, the stock ingredients become part of the soup. They are usually based solely on broths and lacking in dairy products such as milk or cream. If thickened, the thickening usually consists of refined starches from corn or sweet potatoes.
Pottage or potage is a term for a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish. It was a staple food for many centuries. The word pottage comes from the same Old French root as potage, which is a dish of more recent origin.
Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.
A potée is a French culinary term which, in general, refers to any preparation cooked in an earthenware pot. More specifically, it refers to a soup or stew made of pork and vegetables, most frequently, cabbage and potatoes of which choucroute is the most characteristic.
Hot pot or hotpot, also known as steamboat, is a dish of soup/stock kept simmering in a pot by a heat source on the table, accompanied by an array of raw meats, vegetables and soy-based foods which diners quickly cook by dip-boiling in the broth.
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, venison, rabbit, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, stock is also common. A small amount of red wine or other alcohol is sometimes added for flavour. Seasonings and flavourings may also be added. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature, allowing flavours to mingle.
