Pioneer
Mulligan Stew
Whatever you have, into the pot
New Brunswick historical recordMulligan Stew was the Depression-era catch-all — a name for any stew made from whatever was available. In New Brunswick, that meant potatoes, turnip, any scrap of meat or bone, and whatever vegetables came out of the root cellar. No two batches were identical.
Source: New Brunswick historical record
Ingredients
- Any scraps of meat or bones (salt pork, leftover corned beef, soup bones)
- 4 medium potatoes, diced
- 1 turnip, diced
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 cup dried peas or barley (optional)
- 6 cups water
- Salt, pepper, and thyme to taste
Instructions
- If using soup bones or a ham hock, cover with cold water and simmer 1 hour to make a broth. Skim foam.
- Add onion, carrots, turnip, and potatoes. If using barley or peas, add them now.
- Simmer 30–40 minutes until everything is tender and the stew has thickened.
- Add any cooked meat, strip meat from bones, discard bones.
- Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Taste and adjust.
- Serve in deep bowls with bread to soak up the broth.
✦ Kitchen Notes
- The point of Mulligan Stew is that there is no recipe. Use what you have. The potatoes and onion are the only constants.
- Hobos and unemployed men during the Depression would pool whatever food they could find to make a communal pot — the name comes from that tradition.