Brunswick stews usher in the fall The hearty stew not only offers a delicious meal, but an opportunity for friends, family members and groups to gather for socializing and fundraising by ANNETTE JOYCE As the days grow shorter and the leaves begin their transformation to bright reds, oranges and yellows, those big, black stew pots making their appearance herald the arrival of one of fall’s favorite foods – Brunswick stew. For some reason, no one seems to make this thick, robust stew in small quantities just for a family
Photo courtesy of Mark and Lisa Morphies
Lisa (left) and Mark Morphies have been making stews at their farm for 25 years.
meal. Instead, it’s made outside in oversized pots, cooked over an open fire or natural or propane gas. Family and friends are invited to drop by, and making the stew often becomes a full-fledged day-long party, with visitors sharing in the preparation or lending a hand to keep the pot’s contents well-stirred. Churches, civic organizations and youth groups have long held stews as fundraisers. So popular
Your Greensboro Connection
are these stews that the quart-filled containers of them are often sold out days before anyone even begins gathering the ingredients.
Mark Morphies and his wife, Lisa, have been cooking Brunswick stew in a 15-gallon pot at their Stokesdale farm for 25 years – but Mark’s connection to stew goes much further back than that. He remembers as a child hanging out with his grandparents when they cooked up a stew, but said they were making those stews long before he was born. Mark still relies on the recipe his grandpa and grandma always used, and said the recipe was so important to him that he got his grandma to write out four copies in her own handwriting so that he and Lisa and their three adult sons would have it.
“We’re a very traditional family and that meant a lot to me,” Mark said.
10
Fall 2021
Speaking of recipes, those are closely guarded. The Morphies won’t be passing theirs around and neither will Brian Plaster, who’s been in charge of the stew at Bethel United Methodist Church (UMC) in Oak Ridge for about 20 years.
“There is a secret recipe, but I’m not giving it out,” the church’s stew master confirmed. “Our Women’s Circle group came up with the recipe about 60 years ago and all the original members have since passed away. From what I gather, they just sat down and came up with it. I’ve tweaked it just a little bit over the years but it’s basically the same.”
