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 2116 recipes in total:

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Mû Elamūtum (Elamite Broth)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Namibian Black-eyed Peas      Origin: Namibia	Nyebbeh with Oli Gravy      Origin: Gambia
Muamba de Cabara (Goat Meat Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Nandji      Origin: Mali	Nyekoe (Lesotho Sorghum and Beans)      Origin: Lesotho
Muamba de Galinha (Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Nandji de Boeuf (Nandji of Beef)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Nyeleng (Beef and Peanut Gumbo)      Origin: Senegal
Muamba de Galinha (Angolan Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Nanē Pia (Niuean Porridge)      Origin: Niue	Nyete Greens with Peanut Butter      Origin: South Sudan
Mughlai Beef Biriani      Origin: India	Ndengu (Lentil Stew)      Origin: Kenya	Nyma ye Huku (Zimbabwean Chicken Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe
Mughlai-style Camel Curry      Origin: India	Ndizi na Nyama (Plantains with Meat)      Origin: East Africa	Obe Ata (Nigerian Pepper Soup)      Origin: Nigeria
Muhogo ya andzi Na nyama (Cassava with Meat)      Origin: Mayotte	Ndolé à la Viande (Bitterleaf with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon	Obe Eja Dindin (Fried Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria
Muland Saangi Ambat (Radish Pod Gravy)      Origin: India	Nettle Greens and Peanut Stew      Origin: African Fusion	Obe Eja Tutu (Fresh Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria
Mullah Bamyah (Beef and Okra Stew)      Origin: Sudan	Nevis-style Turkey Roti      Origin: Saint Kitts	Ock-lam (Barbecued Pork with Mushrooms and Beans)      Origin: Laos
Mullangi Sambar (White Radish Sambar)      Origin: India	New noumbles of dere (Fresh Deer Offal)      Origin: England	Octopus Curry      Origin: Seychelles
Mumu      Origin: Papua New Guinea	New Year's Hopping John      Origin: American	Ofe Achara (Elephant Grass Stew)      Origin: Nigeria
Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Syria	Nga Myin Hin (Butter Fish Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style)      Origin: Roman
Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Jordan	Ngukassa (Plantain Soup)      Origin: Central African Republic	Oignons à la Monégasque (Sweet and Sour Onions, Monegasque Style)      Origin: Monaco
Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Lebanon	Nhopi (Corn Meal with Pumpkin)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Okok (Eru Leaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon
Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Palestine	Nhopi Dovi (Pumpkin with Groundnut Sauce)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Okra Fungi      Origin: British Virgin Islands
Mushroom and Burdock Soup      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Catfish Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Olla de Carne      Origin: Costa Rica
Mushrooms à la Greque      Origin: France	Nigerian Chicken Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Olusatra (Alexanders with Raisin Sauce)      Origin: Roman
Mushrooms Risotto      Origin: Italy	Nigerian Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Omajova-Pilz-Ragout mit Hirse (Omajova Mushroom Ragout with Millet)      Origin: Namibia
Muskels in Bruet (Mussels in Bruet)      Origin: England	Nigerian Goat Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Oshi Palov (Beef and Vegetable Pilau)      Origin: Tajikistan
Mutabbaq Samak (Fried Pomfret with Rice)      Origin: Kuwait	Nigerian Guinea Fowl Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Osso Bucco alla Milanese      Origin: Italy
Mutton and Coconut Cream Curry      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Guineafowl Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ostrich Goulash      Origin: Namibia
Mutton in the Burmese Style      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Spiced Grasscutter Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ottogi Karē (Ottogi Curry)      Origin: Korea
Mutton Kulambu (Pondicherry Mutton Curry)      Origin: India	Nigerian Spicy Scrambled Eggs      Origin: Nigeria	Ouassous dans la nage (Ouassous in the swim)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Mutton Pilau      Origin: India	Nihari Lamb      Origin: Pakistan	Ox-heart Black Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka
Mutton Rendang      Origin: Indonesia	Nila Bumbu Acar (Sour Spicy Carp)      Origin: Indonesia	Oxtail Pot Pies      Origin: South Africa
Mutton Saag      Origin: India	Njahi in Coconut Sauce (Kenyan Black Beans in Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Kenya	Oysters in Cynee (Oysters in Spiced Bread Sauce)      Origin: England
Mykai (Mushrooms in Honey)      Origin: Roman	Njanga Rice      Origin: Cameroon	Pabellón Criollo (Venezuelan Shredded Beef with Rice and Beans)      Origin: Venezuela
N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Nkatenkwan (Ghanaian Peanut Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Packet and Tripe      Origin: Ireland
N'dolé avec Poisson (Fish and Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Gabon	Nohutlu Pilav (Pilaf with Chickpeas)      Origin: Turkey	Paella de Carne de Caza (Bushmeat Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Noteye (Nutty)      Origin: England	Paella de Pintada (Guineafowl Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Naatukodi Pulusu (Country Chicken Sour Curry)      Origin: India	Nowmbyls of Muskyls (Mussels in Almond Milk Sauce)      Origin: England	Paella Valencia      Origin: Spain
Naeamia bel Dakwa      Origin: Sudan	Nyaba      Origin: Sudan	Paella Valencia de la Huerta (Traditional Chicken Paella)      Origin: Spain
Naengi-guk (Shepherd's Purse Soup)      Origin: Korea	Nyama ya Figo (Beef and Kidneys)      Origin: Tanzania
Naga Curry      Origin: Fusion	Nyama yeMbudzi (Traditional Zimbabwean Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe

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