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:

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Nowmbyls of Muskyls (Mussels in Almond Milk Sauce)      Origin: England	Ox-heart Black Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Pašticada (Dalmatian Beef Stew with Prunes and Apples)      Origin: Croatia
Nyaba      Origin: Sudan	Oxtail Pot Pies      Origin: South Africa	Pašticada (Croatian Beef Stew)      Origin: Croatia
Nyama ya Figo (Beef and Kidneys)      Origin: Tanzania	Oysters in Cynee (Oysters in Spiced Bread Sauce)      Origin: England	Pasties Boiled in Beef Broth      Origin: Cornwall
Nyama yeMbudzi (Traditional Zimbabwean Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Pabellón Criollo (Venezuelan Shredded Beef with Rice and Beans)      Origin: Venezuela	Patellam ex holisatro (Artichokes Cooked in Herbs)      Origin: Roman
Nyebbeh with Oli Gravy      Origin: Gambia	Packet and Tripe      Origin: Ireland	Patina Cotidiana (Everyday Dish)      Origin: Roman
Nyekoe (Lesotho Sorghum and Beans)      Origin: Lesotho	Paella de Carne de Caza (Bushmeat Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Patina Cotidiana II (Everyday Casserole II)      Origin: Roman
Nyeleng (Beef and Peanut Gumbo)      Origin: Senegal	Paella de Pintada (Guineafowl Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Patina de Apua (A Dish of Anchovies)      Origin: Roman
Nyete Greens with Peanut Butter      Origin: South Sudan	Paella Valencia      Origin: Spain	Patina de Cydoneis (A Dish of Quinces)      Origin: Roman
Nyma ye Huku (Zimbabwean Chicken Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Paella Valencia de la Huerta (Traditional Chicken Paella)      Origin: Spain	Patina de Persicis (A Dish of Peaches)      Origin: Roman
Obe Ata (Nigerian Pepper Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Palak Paneer (Paneer with Spinach)      Origin: India	Patina de piris (Pear Souflé)      Origin: Roman
Obe Ata Dindin (Nigerian Red Sauce)      Origin: Nigeria	Palandy      Origin: Sri Lanka	Patina de Piscibus, Dentice, Aurata et Mugile (A Dish of Fish Made with Dentex, Gilt-head Bream, or Grey Mullet)      Origin: Roman
Obe Efo Elegusi (Egusi Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Palauan Fish Soup      Origin: Palau	Patina de pisciculis (Dish of Small Fish)      Origin: Roman
Obe Eja Dindin (Fried Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Palauan Tinola      Origin: Palau	Patina de Sabuco (Elderberry Souflée)      Origin: Roman
Obe Eja Tutu (Fresh Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Palaver 'Sauce'      Origin: West Africa	Patina Fusilis (A Fluid Dish)      Origin: Roman
Ock-lam (Barbecued Pork with Mushrooms and Beans)      Origin: Laos	Palaver Chicken      Origin: Ghana	Patina Fusilis (A Dish of Wild Herbs)      Origin: Roman
Octopus Curry      Origin: Seychelles	Palm Butter Soup      Origin: Liberia	Patina solearum (Patina of Sole in a Herb Sauce)      Origin: Roman
Ofadà (Green Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Palm Soup Base #2      Origin: Liberia	Patina zomoteganon (Fish Fillets with Leek and Coriander)      Origin: Roman
Ofe Achara (Elephant Grass Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Solomon Islands	Patinam Apicianam (Apician Casserole)      Origin: Roman
Ofe-Owerri Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Tuvalu	Patinam ex Lacte (Milk Casserole)      Origin: Roman
Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style)      Origin: Roman	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Kiribati	Patka sa kiselim kupusom (Duck with Sauerkraut)      Origin: Croatia
Oignons à la Monégasque (Sweet and Sour Onions, Monegasque Style)      Origin: Monaco	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Marshall Islands	Paupiettes De Porc (Stuffed Pork Fillet Parcels)      Origin: France
Okok (Eru Leaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Pan Haggis      Origin: Scotland	Paupiettes de porc au curry d'automne (Pork Rolls with Autumn Curry)      Origin: Saint Pierre
Okra Fungi      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Pan-fried Carp      Origin: Montenegro	Pazun Hin (Prawn Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Okro Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Panamanian Sancocho      Origin: Panama	Pe Nyat (Beans Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Okwuru Ugba (Okra and Ugba Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Paneer Shabnam      Origin: India	Pea Soup and Meat      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Olla de Carne      Origin: Costa Rica	Papeda Kuah Kuning (Papuan Sago with Turmeric Fish Soup)      Origin: Papua	Peanut Soup      Origin: West Africa
Olusatra (Alexanders with Raisin Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Pappardelle with Slow-cooked Beef and Mushrooms      Origin: Britain	Pears with Cinnamon and Wine      Origin: Roman
Omajova-Pilz-Ragout mit Hirse (Omajova Mushroom Ragout with Millet)      Origin: Namibia	Paprika Sausage      Origin: British	Peas and Rice      Origin: Turks Caicos
Osh (Uzbek Palov)      Origin: Uzbekistan	Parched Peas      Origin: England	Pease Pottage      Origin: Britain
Oshi Palov (Beef and Vegetable Pilau)      Origin: Tajikistan	Pargo con Tomate (Snapper with Tomato)      Origin: Colombia	Peeres in Confyt (Pears in Confit)      Origin: England
Osso Bucco alla Milanese      Origin: Italy	Parthade Curry      Origin: India	Peiouns y Stewed (Stewed Pigeons)      Origin: England
Ostrich Goulash      Origin: Namibia	Pašrūtum (Unwinding Mesopotamian Vegetable Stew)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Pelau      Origin: Saint Kitts
Ottogi Karē (Ottogi Curry)      Origin: Korea	Pasta with Olives and Caperberries      Origin: Britain
Ouassous dans la nage (Ouassous in the swim)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Pasta with Wild Greens      Origin: Britain

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