Stews have been around almost nearly as long as humans have been cooking. All you need is a vessel to hold your ingredients and water and a means of heating that vessel. It can be as simple as a leather bag with stones heated in a fire dropped into it. So stews were almost certainly prepared during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, if not earlier. Once you have clay or metal pots you can prepare stews next to or set directly over a fire. Stews are low-maintenance cookery, generally not requiring that the cooking pot be observed continuously. The slow cooking is also ideal for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat (neck, shin, tail etc). As these also tend to be the most flavoursome parts of animals, this also means that stews can be extremely flavourful. Stews also pair well with the local staple: potatoes, rice, bread, yams, cassava etc.

Even in hunter-gatherer societies stews are useful in that the slow cooking can make the most of tough meat and it can be combined with foraged grains, leafy greens, nuts and starchy tubers to yield a flavourful, low maintenance and nutritious meal. With the advent of agriculture almost all grains are amenable to stewing and combining grains and legumes in a stew provides a ready way to gain all the essential amino acids that humans (particularly children) require.

The boiling process of making stews also helps sterilize the ingredients, killing harmful bacteria and viruses. It can also help neutralize harmful chemicals, such as the cyanogenic compounds in bitter cassava and helps reduce bitterness in leafy greens, making the food both safer to eat and more palatable. The addition of flavouring ingredients (fruit, spices, herbs) during the cooking process can also alter the flavours of stews, making them more palatable and more appealing. This is particularly the case when adding components with high umami content (certain fish, seaweed, cruciferous vegetables, beans, soy sauce, mushrooms etc).

It is little wonder that, taken globally, the list of stews presented on this site is a long one.

Some stews border on soups and the definition of whether a dish is a soup or a stew. A good example of this is Welsh cawl which can be served with more liquid as a soup or can be thickened as a stew and served with bread and/or potatoes. Most curries, due to their long, slow cooking and blend of ingredients can also be considered a subtype of stew.

Pretty much every culture on earth has a classic stew that's a major part of its cultural culinary repertoire. I have viewed and collected recipes for many of these on my travels. These and other classic stews from around the world are collected and presented here.

The alphabetical list of all the stew recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 2198 recipes in total:

Page 2 of 22

Assegas n Tajin s Ifrawen (Camel tagine with dried apricots)      Origin: Western Sahara	Bakiou Stobá (Salt Cod Stew)      Origin: Bonaire	Beef and Coconut Cream Curry      Origin: Fusion
Atún con Pimientos y Tomate (Tuna with Chillies and Tomatoes)      Origin: Spain	Bakiou Stobá (Salt Cod Stew)      Origin: Curacao	Beef and Dhal Curry      Origin: India
Atar Alecha (Spiced Split Green Peas)      Origin: Ethiopia	Balchão de Camarão (Goan Prawn Pickle)      Origin: India	Beef and Green Tomato Jalfrezi      Origin: Fusion
Atar Allecha (Spiced Green Pea Purée)      Origin: Egypt	Balti Chicken Pasanda      Origin: Britain	Beef and Mushroom Tshoem      Origin: Bhutan
Atklit (Ethiopian Cabbage Potato Bowl)      Origin: Ethiopia	Bamia (Okra in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Egypt	Beef and Mushrooms in Peanut Sauce      Origin: Central African Republic
Attiéké du Mali (Malian Attiéké)      Origin: Mali	Bamieh (Okra Stew)      Origin: Iraq	Beef and Stout Stew      Origin: Ireland
Aurangabadi Naan Qaliya      Origin: India	Bamijas, Ulcinj Style (Ulcinj style Okra)      Origin: Montenegro	Beef Braised in Rooibos Tea with Sweet Potatoes      Origin: South Africa
Australian Camel Stew      Origin: Australia	Banana and Corn Casserole      Origin: eSwatini	Beef Cameroon      Origin: Cameroon
Awaze Tibs (Ethiopian Beef and Peppers)      Origin: Ethiopia	Banana Porridge      Origin: Jamaica	Beef in Bistort Leaves      Origin: Britain
Ayam Begana (Chicken Begana)      Origin: Cocos Islands	Banana Stobá (Stewed Plantains)      Origin: Curacao	Beef in Bitter      Origin: Britain
Ayam Bumbu Rujak (Chicken with Rujak Gravy)      Origin: Indonesia	Banankou Fida (Sokossoko with Kidneys)      Origin: Guinea	Beef in Claret      Origin: Scotland
Ayam Masak Lemak (Spicy Fenugreek Meat)      Origin: Malaysia	Banga Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Beef in Stout      Origin: Ireland
Ayam Masak Lemak (Chicken in Creamy Coconut)      Origin: Malaysia	Bangladeshi Garlic Daal      Origin: Bangladesh	Beef in the Burmese Style      Origin: Fusion
Ayam Panggang      Origin: Christmas Island	Bangladeshi Goat Curry      Origin: Bangladesh	Beef Madras      Origin: India
Ayimonlou (Togolese Rice and Beans)      Origin: Togo	Barbecued Fish Rolls      Origin: Jamaica	Beef Picadillo      Origin: Dominican Republic
Ayimonlou et N'gbagba (Togolese Rice and Beans with N'gbagba)      Origin: Togo	Bariis Iskukaris      Origin: Somalia	Beef Rendang      Origin: Indonesia
Azindéssi aux Boeuf (Beef in Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Togo	Barkly Mount Eagle Madras Curry      Origin: Scotland	Beef with Paprika and Potatoes      Origin: Ireland
Baamiye Suqaar (Meat and Okra Stew)      Origin: Somalia	Barley Kail      Origin: Scotland	Beefsteak Mushroom and Hen of the Woods Risotto      Origin: British
Bacalao a la Crema de Espárragos y Pimientos (Salt Cod with Cream of Asparagus and Peppers)      Origin: Spain	Baru Fida (Spinach Sauce with Peanuts and Beef Shank)      Origin: Guinea	Belizean Rice and Beans      Origin: Belize
Bacalao Encebollado con Almendras al Estilo Canario (Cod with Onions and Almonds, Canary Style)      Origin: Spain	Basico (Sudanese Sesame Seeds, Greens and Smoked Meat)      Origin: South Sudan	Bengali Chicken Curry      Origin: India
Bachalu à Gomes (Salt Cod with Potatoes)      Origin: Angola	Basto and Suugo      Origin: Somalia	Bengali Fish Curry      Origin: India
Baekse Karē (Korean Curry Rice)      Origin: Korea	Basto and Suugo      Origin: Djibouti	Bengali Turkey Curry      Origin: Britain
Bagobe Jwa Lerotse (Sorghum Porridge with Cooking Melons)      Origin: Botswana	Batabate      Origin: Mayotte	Benin Red Sauce      Origin: Benin
Bahamian Crab and Rice      Origin: Saint Barthelemy	Batak Raichat (Duck Raichat)      Origin: India	Beninese Beef Stew      Origin: Benin
Bahamian Lobster Curry      Origin: Bahamas	Batar Da'an (Maize, Mung Bean and Squash Stew)      Origin: East Timor	Beninese Goat Stew      Origin: Benin
Baianas (Baian Beans)      Origin: Roman	Bayerische Schweinekotletts (Bavarian Pork Chops)      Origin: Germany	Beninese Jollof Rice      Origin: Benin
Bajan Curry Powder      Origin: Barbados	Bayrisch Kraut (Pickled Bavarian Cabbage)      Origin: Germany	Beriani      Origin: Brunei
Bajan Pepperpot      Origin: Barbados	Bean and Wild Mushroom Stew      Origin: Britain	Berkoukes      Origin: Algeria
Bakeapple Chicken Curry      Origin: Canada	Bean Foogath      Origin: India	Beshbarmak (Meat and Pasta Dish)      Origin: Kazakhstan
Baked Beans with Nigerian Seasonings      Origin: African Fusion	Bean Goulash with Beef      Origin: Czech	Beshbarmak (Meat and Pasta Dish)      Origin: Kyrgyzstan
Baked Chicken in Guava Sauce      Origin: Jamaica	Beans and Bananas      Origin: Burundi	Betaceos Varronis (Beets à la Varro)      Origin: Roman
Baked Parsnips Irish Style      Origin: Ireland	Beans Gravy      Origin: Liberia	Betas (Beetroot with Leeks in Wine)      Origin: Roman
Baked Tilapia with Pineapple and Black Beans      Origin: Costa Rica	Beans With Rum      Origin: Montserrat
Bakiou Stobá (Salt Cod Stew)      Origin: Aruba	Bébélé (Tripe and Plantain Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe

Page 2 of 22