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 3 of 22

Betas Minutas et Porros (Young Beetroot and Leeks)      Origin: Roman	Bottle Masala Chicken Curry      Origin: Britain	Bunyoro Stew      Origin: Uganda
Bhuna Khichuri      Origin: Bangladesh	Bougna      Origin: New Caledonia	Burrida Ligure (Genoese Fish Stew)      Origin: Italy
Big Bowl Chili      Origin: American	Bougna      Origin: Wallis Fortuna	Bursen      Origin: England
Binyewa (Ugandan Groundnut Sauce)      Origin: Uganda	Bouillabaisse      Origin: France	Burseu (A Dish of Minced Meat)      Origin: England
Birch Sap and Cleavers Risotto      Origin: Britain	Bouillabaisse with Rouille and Croutons      Origin: France	Burundi Beans and Plantains      Origin: Burundi
Biriani de Poulet (Chicken Biriani)      Origin: Mauritius	Bouillon d'awara (Awara Broth)      Origin: French Guiana	Burundian Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce      Origin: Burundi
Biscuit-topped Lamb Casserole      Origin: America	Bouillon de Crabes (Swimmer Crab Bouillon)      Origin: Mauritius	Burundian Igitoke      Origin: Burundi
Bisort Bolognese      Origin: Fusion	Bouillon de Petits Crabes (Stew of Small Crabs)      Origin: Mauritius	Burundian Isombe (Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Burundi
Bistecca di San Marino (Steak San Marino)      Origin: San Marino	Boulgour aux Fruits Secs (Bulgur Wheat with Dried Fruit)      Origin: Mauritania	Burundian Ubugali (Cassava Porridge)      Origin: Burundi
Black Beans      Origin: Mexico	Bourguignon de cerf (Venison Bourguignon)      Origin: France	Butternut Squash and Pea Risotto      Origin: Britain
Blaff de poisson (Fish Blaff)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Bourguignon de cerf (Venison Bourguignon)      Origin: New Caledonia	Bygan Dhal      Origin: India
Blaff de poisson (Fish Blaff)      Origin: French Guiana	Bourride      Origin: Britain	Bœuf à la bretonne (Breton-style beef)      Origin: France
Blancs de Poulet au Gingembre et à la Cardamome (Chicken Breasts with Ginger and Cardamom)      Origin: Madagascar	Bozartma (Lamb Stewed with Vegetables and Cherry Plums)      Origin: Azerbaijan	c (Zama)      Origin: Moldova
Blank Dessorre      Origin: England	Braf (Broth)      Origin: Dominica	c (Groaty Pudding)      Origin: England
Blanquette de Porc (Pork in White Sauce)      Origin: France	Braised Lamb Shanks with Cannellini Beans      Origin: Britain	Cëebu Jen II      Origin: Senegal
Blanquette de Veau (Veal in White Sauce)      Origin: France	Braised Meatballs      Origin: China	Cà Ri Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Curry)      Origin: Vietnam
Bo Kho (Spicy Beef Stew)      Origin: Vietnam	Braised Pigeons with Cherries      Origin: Zambia	Caçarola de Frango com Cominho (Chicken Casserole with Cumin)      Origin: Angola
Bobor Taro (Taro Root Pudding)      Origin: Cambodia	Braised Pork Ribs and Taro Stew      Origin: Hong Kong	Cabbage and Bacon      Origin: Ireland
Boerwors Maalvleis Kerrie (Boerwors Minced Meat Curry)      Origin: South Africa	Bratwurst im Bier, Berin-art (Bratwurst in Beer, Berlin Style)      Origin: Germany	Cabbage Jambalaya      Origin: Cajun
Boeuf aux Chocolat Gabonnaise (Beef with Gabon Chocolate)      Origin: Gabon	Brewet of Almayn (Bruet of Almonds)      Origin: England	Cabbage with Chicken      Origin: Guyana
Boeuf Bourguignon      Origin: France	Brined Cabbage Sarma      Origin: North Macedonia	Caboches in Potage (Cabbage Stew)      Origin: England
Boeuf et Feuilles de Manioc (Beef and Cassava Greens in Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Gabon	British Virgin Islands Peas Soup      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Cabri aux Gombos et Patates Douces (Goat with Okra and Sweet Potatoes)      Origin: Senegal
Boiled Beef and Carrots      Origin: Britain	Brodet na Dalmatinski Nacin (Fish, Dalmatian Style)      Origin: Serbia	Cabri Massalé (Kid Goat Massala)      Origin: Reunion
Boiled Ham      Origin: Britain	Bruet Sarcenes (Saracen Brewet)      Origin: England	Cabrito com Inhame (Kid Goat with Yam)      Origin: Cape Verde
Boko Boko Harees (Chicken with Bulgur Wheat)      Origin: Burundi	Bruine Bonen (Suriname-style Kidney Bean Stew)      Origin: Suriname	Caccabinam Fusilem (Fluid Casserole)      Origin: Roman
Boletos Aliter (Boletes, Another Way II)      Origin: Roman	Bruine Bonen met Rijst (Brown Beans with Rice)      Origin: Suriname	Caccabinam Minorem (Small Casserole)      Origin: Roman
Bolo and Trotter Potjie      Origin: Namibia	Brunswick Stew      Origin: American	Cachupa Rica      Origin: Cape Verde
Bonava (Meat and Potatoes Stew)      Origin: Mauritania	Buckwheat Kasha      Origin: Ukraine	Cachupa Rica      Origin: Cape Verde
Bonava (Mauritanian Lamb Stew)      Origin: Mauritania	Buckwheat Kasha      Origin: Kazakhstan	Cachupinha      Origin: Cape Verde
Bonito con Cebolla y Tomate (Bonito with Onion and Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Spain	Bufuke with Onion Sauce      Origin: Uganda	Cactus Chili      Origin: America
Boo with Okra      Origin: Uganda	Bukharan Pilaf      Origin: Uzbekistan	Cafriela de Frango      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Borulce (Black-eyed Pea Stew)      Origin: Turkey	Bukkeande      Origin: England	Cajun Brew Pork'n'Beans      Origin: American
Botswanan Cabbage      Origin: Botswana	Bulgarian Beef and Potato Moussaka      Origin: Bulgaria
Botswanan Chicken Groundnut Stew      Origin: Botswana	Bulgur Pilaf      Origin: Turkey

Page 3 of 22