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 2366 recipes in total:

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Miyan Wake (Beans soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Mpotompoto (Ghanaian Yam Porridge)      Origin: Ghana	N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon
Mkhwani with Groundnut Flour      Origin: Malawi	Mr Arnott's Currie      Origin: Britain	N'dolé avec Poisson (Fish and Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Gabon
Moambé Stew      Origin: Congo	Mrefisa      Origin: Western Sahara	N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon
Mogatla (Oxtail Casserole)      Origin: Botswana	Mtsolola à la viande (Bananas and Meat)      Origin: Mayotte	Naatukodi Pulusu (Country Chicken Sour Curry)      Origin: India
Mohinga      Origin: Myanmar	Mû Elamūtum (Elamite Broth)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Naeamia bel Dakwa      Origin: Sudan
Mokoto      Origin: Benin	Muamba de Cabara (Goat Meat Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Naengi-guk (Shepherd's Purse Soup)      Origin: Korea
Molohiya (Chicken and Jute Mallow Stew)      Origin: Northern Cyprus	Muamba de Galinha (Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Naga Curry      Origin: Fusion
Molokheya au Poulet (Chicken Molokhia)      Origin: Tunisia	Muamba de Galinha (Angolan Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Namibian Black-eyed Peas      Origin: Namibia
Molokhia (Egyptian Greens Soup)      Origin: Egypt	Mughlai Beef Biriani      Origin: India	Nandji      Origin: Mali
Moloukhia (Jute Leaf Stew)      Origin: Niger	Mughlai-style Camel Curry      Origin: India	Nandji de Boeuf (Nandji of Beef)      Origin: Cote dIvoire
Monnchelet (Veal or Mutton Stew with Herbs and Egg Liaison)      Origin: England	Muhogo ya andzi Na nyama (Cassava with Meat)      Origin: Mayotte	Nanē Pia (Niuean Porridge)      Origin: Niue
Montenegrin Imam Bajeldi      Origin: Montenegro	Muland Saangi Ambat (Radish Pod Gravy)      Origin: India	Ndambé à la Sauce Tomateh (Bean and Meat Stew in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Senegal
Montserratian Fisherman's Stew      Origin: Montserrat	Mullah Bamyah (Beef and Okra Stew)      Origin: Sudan	Ndambé Blanc (White Bean and Meat Stew)      Origin: Senegal
Montserratian Goat Water      Origin: Montserrat	Mullangi Sambar (White Radish Sambar)      Origin: India	Ndengu (Lentil Stew)      Origin: Kenya
Montserratian Rice and Peas      Origin: Montserrat	Mumu      Origin: Papua New Guinea	Ndizi na Nyama (Plantains with Meat)      Origin: East Africa
Moong Pulao (Mung Bean Pulao)      Origin: Pakistan	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Syria	Ndolé à la Viande (Bitterleaf with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon
Moongre ki Subzi (Radish Pod and Potato Sauté)      Origin: India	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Jordan	Nettle Greens and Peanut Stew      Origin: African Fusion
Mopane Worms and Sorghum Porridge      Origin: Botswana	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Lebanon	Nevis-style Turkey Roti      Origin: Saint Kitts
Moqueca de Camarão (Prawn Stew)      Origin: Angola	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Palestine	New noumbles of dere (Fresh Deer Offal)      Origin: England
Moqueca de Pixe à Baiana (Grilled Fish, Baian Style)      Origin: Brazil	Mushosh (Lentils with Apricots)      Origin: Armenia	New Year's Hopping John      Origin: American
Morel Mattar Masala      Origin: Fusion	Mushroom and Burdock Soup      Origin: Fusion	Nga Myin Hin (Butter Fish Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Moro de guandules con coco (Christmas Rice and Pigeon Peas)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Mushroom Goulash      Origin: British	Ngukassa (Plantain Soup)      Origin: Central African Republic
Moroccan Braised Lamb      Origin: Morocco	Mushroom Stroganoff      Origin: Britain	Nhopi (Corn Meal with Pumpkin)      Origin: Zimbabwe
Moroccan Lamb Couscous      Origin: Morocco	Mushrooms à la Greque      Origin: France	Nhopi Dovi (Pumpkin with Groundnut Sauce)      Origin: Zimbabwe
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Shanks      Origin: Morocco	Mushrooms Risotto      Origin: Italy	Nigerian Catfish Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Morogo      Origin: South Africa	Muskels in Bruet (Mussels in Bruet)      Origin: England	Nigerian Chicken Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Morogo Wa Dinawa (Bean Leaf Stew)      Origin: Botswana	Mutabbaq Samak (Fried Pomfret with Rice)      Origin: Kuwait	Nigerian Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Mortrews Blank (Meat in White Sauce)      Origin: England	Mutton and Coconut Cream Curry      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Goat Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Moula Kawal (Kawal Sauce)      Origin: Chad	Mutton in the Burmese Style      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Groundnut Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Mouton à l'Arachide (Lamb with Peanuts)      Origin: Benin	Mutton Kulambu (Pondicherry Mutton Curry)      Origin: India	Nigerian Guinea Fowl Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Mouton au Curry (Mutton Curry)      Origin: France	Mutton Pilau      Origin: India	Nigerian Guineafowl Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Moyo de Poulet Fume (Moyo of Smoked Chicken)      Origin: Benin	Mutton Rendang      Origin: Indonesia	Nigerian Spiced Chicken Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Mozambique Peri-Peri      Origin: Mozambique	Mutton Saag      Origin: India
Mozambique Prawns      Origin: Mozambique	Mykai (Mushrooms in Honey)      Origin: Roman

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