This look into the practice of one of the South’s oldest folk heritage traditions – communal cooking of one-pot Southern stews by culinary folk artisans called “stewmasters” – carries us from Kentucky and Virginia into Georgia and South Carolina to discover ancestral stews that contain the blended history of our European, African, Native American, and frontier settler roots. From hunters stews to Sea Island stews, these pottages include ingredients of available meats, local vegetables, onions and potatoes. When the huge cast iron pots are steaming and being stirred with wooden paddles, you know that a large stew gathering is happening at volunteer fire departments, rural churches, family gatherings, or stew competitions…and the stories around the pots as well!