Get a taste of pioneer days

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Inspecting one of the massive kettles that will boil the stew for the 40th annual Burgoo Festival Sunday, Oct. 11 in Utica are society member Malcolm Whipple of Waltham, burgoomeister Raynette “Rae” Jones of La Salle and her father, Ray Jones of La Moille, a long-time society volunteer.  For the third year in a row, burgoomeister Jones will oversee the 30-hour plus preparations and slow-cooking of the stew over wood fires. The burgoo pots are stirred constantly by volunteers overnight before it is sold and served during the next day’s street fair. Anyone interested in helping with the marathon stew stirring are asked to contact the society at (815) 667-4861.

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UTICA – Huge kettles of bubbling hot pioneer stew will again be the centerpiece of the 40th Burgoo Festival Sunday, Oct. 11.

The popular street fair is expected to draw thousands of visitors from across the Midwest into downtown Utica for the annual celebration of autumn. Scheduled rain or shine, the festival features flea marketers, craftsmen, musicians and other street-roaming entertainment. More than 200 vendors are expected.

Established in 1969, the Utica Burgoo Festival is one of the longest-running fall street fairs in northern Illinois. The event, sponsored by the La Salle County Historical Society, is the organization’s biggest fundraising effort of the year.

“The festival evolved many years ago when several members of the La Salle County Historical Society explored options for fund raising,” according to former society president Mary G. Small of Utica. “They recognized the need for revenue beyond membership dues and donations.”

The Burgoo weekend kicks off Saturday evening, Oct 10, with Utica’s Special Events Committee’s annual cruise and car show from 4 to 8 p.m. with 3D Sound providing the music. The auto show will feature trophies in various categories and other prizes. Call (815) 223-5555 (days) or (815) 667-4543 (nights) for further show information.

The Follies Theater, located in the center of the village’s downtown area, will present a live music and dance revue show during the car show and will perform periodically on Sunday during the festival. Other festival musical entertainment will include gospel and traditional singer Winfred Hoffman, country music and Broadway singer Marvina Bowker, and the New Doodledorfers.

However, as always, bowls of burgoo are the main attraction. The stew’s actual recipe, a closely guarded historical society secret, is known to contain dozens of ingredients from choice beef to fresh vegetables to pungent spices.

It is prepared throughout the night before the festival as volunteers constantly stir several 55-gallon kettles over roaring wood fires.

In her third year as burgoomeister, Raynette “Rae” Jones mixes the secret blend of herbs and spices in her La Salle home kitchen before adding the mixture to the boiling pots cooking near Utica’s historical museum adjacent to the Illinois & Michigan Canal.

What the cook will say about the tasty stew’s creation is it includes 250 pounds of beef, 220 pounds of potatoes, 75 pounds of carrots, two cases of cabbage, 60 pounds of green peas, 60 pounds of beans, 22 pounds of split peas and a case of celery. Sweet Italian sausage and bacon are new additions to this year’s recipe.

Jones said the ingredients are added in order of cooking time required, with the meat first, then vegetables and thickening agents stirred in last.

“If all goes according to my personal recipe plan, the burgoo will be rich and thick enough to have a spoon stand up in it,” she said.

And don’t try telling Jones any burgoo jokes. She says she has heard all of them.

She added, “My volunteers and I run a tight, organized ship in making the burgoo and nothing goes into those pots without my instruction.”

For those squeamish about even trying the unique stew, Jones just may offer a small taste to entice them that day.

“Try a spoonful, you’ll buy a bowlful,” the confident cook insists.

Beyond the hearty Burgoo stew, dozens of specialized food vendors will offer pork chops, hot dogs, bratwurst, pork or hamburgers, pies, cakes and cookies. A Country Store will feature a variety of gift items and the historical society will sponsor a new and used book sale in the side yard near the society’s blacksmith’s shop.

Raffle tickets, proceeds from which profit the society’s Utica Museum, will be sold that weekend. Prizes include overnight stays at local lodges, gift certificates from area dining establishments, and dozens of other unique gift items.

The 1865 Aitken one-room schoolhouse, an 1875 barn with vintage farm equipment and vehicles, the 1892 blacksmith shop, and the main historical society’s museum, will all be open with docents to explain the exhibits. A barrel maker and other heritage craftsmen will demonstrate their skills continuously during the day.

Each autumn, the festival complements the annual explosion of fall foliage, which creates a kaleidoscope of colors across the Illinois River valley.

Just south of town, the majestic Starved Rock State Park Lodge will join Utica’s fall celebration with special events, including an Oktoberfest Party complete with an authentic German buffet Friday, Oct. 9.

The New Doodledorfers, a local German band, will perform on the lodge’s veranda overlooking the Illinois River from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.      
 
What is burgoo?
 
Utica’s Burgoo is a traditional spicy pioneer dish, a unique kind of stew, that is prepared and cooked slowly in huge butchering kettles over an open wood fire starting the night before the festival. Food historians believe that it has its roots in Irish or mulligan stew.

No standardized recipe exists. Early 1800 versions of Burgoo were made with such wild game as venison or squirrel and whatever vegetables the pioneers grew or were available. Current Illinois state health regulations do not allow the sales of soup made from unprocessed game.

Utica Burgoomeister Raynette “Rae” Jones, whose family dates back to some of La Salle County’s first settlers in 1837, is very guarded about her personal and particular Burgoo recipe. “It is not even written down anyplace. It’s in my head,” she laughed.

“And it is tasty. My ancestors would be proud,” she said.

What little she will tell you is that the local brew’s ingredients include beef, carrots, potatoes, hominy, celery, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and peppers all blended with an array of special spices and herbs. Cooked for 12 to 18 hours before serving under the watchful eye of cook Jones and squads of volunteer kettle stirrers, the Burgoo bubbling over the wood fire sears each serving with an unique smoky flavor.
 

 What does “burgoo” mean?
    
The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the word “burgoo” may have come from “bulghur,” a form of crack wheat, or “ragout,” a French word for a well-seasoned stew. It may also have roots from a thin gruel or porridge cooked by sailors in the 17th century.   

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