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:

Page 5 of 24

Carne en Polvo (Powdered Beef)      Origin: Colombia	Ceebu Jën (Rice and Fish)      Origin: Senegal	Chicken Jalfrezi      Origin: Britain
Carne en Polvo (Powdered Beef)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Celtic Pork and Apple Stew      Origin: Ancient	Chicken Kabsa      Origin: Saudi Arabia
Carne en Salsa (Beef in Gravy)      Origin: Gibraltar	Cennin mewn Saws Oren (Leeks in Orange Sauce)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Machboos      Origin: Bahrain
Carne Gisada con Plantanos (Beef and Plantains)      Origin: Cuba	Ceviche de Pollo (Chicken Ceviche)      Origin: Peru	Chicken Machboos      Origin: Oman
Carne Gizado (Stewed Meat and Vegetables)      Origin: Cape Verde	Chabéu de Carne (Meat with Palm Oil)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Chicken Machbous (Chicken Machboos)      Origin: Iraq
Carne Guisada (Puerto Rican Stewed Beef)      Origin: Puerto Rico	Chabéu de Tainha (Palm Soup of Mullet)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Chicken Madrouba      Origin: Oman
Carne Guisada (Panamanian Beef Stew)      Origin: Panama	Chakapuli (Georgian Lamb and Tarragon Stew)      Origin: Georgia	Chicken Madrouba      Origin: Qatar
Carne Mechada      Origin: Venezuela	Chakhchoukha      Origin: Algeria	Chicken Madrouba      Origin: Bahrain
Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded Beef)      Origin: Venezuela	Chardwardon      Origin: England	Chicken Makhani      Origin: Bangladesh
Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded Beef)      Origin: Venezuela	Charquicán (Traditional Chilean Stew)      Origin: Chile	Chicken Pepper Soup      Origin: West Africa
Carne na Cerveja (Beef in Beer)      Origin: Brazil	Chaudage (Pork and Beef Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Chicken Pepper Soup      Origin: Sierra Leone
Carne Porco Vinho D'alhos (Pork in Garlic and Wine)      Origin: Portugal	Cheese Dumplings      Origin: British	Chicken Potjie with Dumplings      Origin: Botswana
Carnes Vaccinae (Byzantine Beef Stew)      Origin: Roman	Chefy Umngqusho (Chefy Samp and Beans)      Origin: South Africa	Chicken Rice      Origin: Malaysia
Carotae et pastinacae (Fried Carrots with Peppered Wine Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Chelo Nachodo (Chicken and Chickpea Stew with Rice)      Origin: Afghanistan	Chicken Rice      Origin: Singapore
Carri Tripes Gros Pois (Butter Bean and Tripe Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Cherupayar Curry (Whole Green Lentil Curry)      Origin: India	Chicken Rice      Origin: Christmas Island
Cassava Leaf Soup      Origin: Liberia	Chicken Afritada      Origin: Philippines	Chicken Seychelles      Origin: Seychelles
Cassava Life      Origin: Sierra Leone	Chicken and Broccoli in a Curried Yoghurt Sauce      Origin: India	Chicken Shashlick      Origin: Pakistan
Casserol Ceredigion (Cardiganshire Casserole)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken and Dumplings      Origin: Ireland	Chicken Suprême      Origin: France
Cassoulet à Moda Brasileira (Brazilian-style Cassoulet)      Origin: Brazil	Chicken and Leek Hotpot      Origin: Ireland	Chicken Tagine with Honey and Apricots      Origin: Morocco
Cassoulet Mauricien (Mauritian Cassoulet)      Origin: Mauritius	Chicken and Peanut Thai Curry      Origin: Thailand	Chicken Vindaloo      Origin: India
Cattail Hearts with Wild Oyster Mushrooms      Origin: America	Chicken and Vegetable Curry      Origin: Senegal	Chicken White Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka
Caudel of almannd mylke (Caudle of Almond Milk)      Origin: England	Chicken Benachin      Origin: Cameroon	Chicken with Potatoes, Tomatoes and Fennel      Origin: Ireland
Cauliflower with Dorsa Sauce      Origin: Algeria	Chicken Boileen      Origin: Saint Vincent	Chicken with Spiced Rice      Origin: Australia
Cawdel of Samoun (Caudle of Salmon)      Origin: England	Chicken Bonnie Prince Charlie      Origin: Scotland	Chicken with Spices and Soy Sauce      Origin: Malaysia
Cawl (Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Chicken-Sausage Jambalaya      Origin: Cajun
Cawl Cig Oen (Lamb Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Greens      Origin: India	Chickennat      Origin: Uganda
Cawl Cynhaeaf (Harvest Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Malaysia	Chilaca Pork Stew      Origin: Mexico
Cawl Tregaron (Tregaron Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes (FChicken Curry with Potatoes)      Origin: Cocos Islands	Chile con Queso (Chili with Cheese)      Origin: American
Cawl Wstrys Bro Gŵyr (Gower Peninsula Oyster Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Christmas Island	Chile Verde (Green Chili)      Origin: Mexico
Cawl y Carolwyr (Carollers' Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Yams      Origin: Fusion	Chili Beans      Origin: American
Cayman Fish Rundown      Origin: Cayman Islands	Chicken Dupiaza      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Chili Chicken      Origin: American
Cazuela Chilena (Chilean Cazuela)      Origin: Chile	Chicken Gravy      Origin: Liberia	Chili Con Carne      Origin: Fusion
Cazuela de Mariscos Chilena (Chilean Seafood Cazuela)      Origin: Chile	Chicken Guisado      Origin: India
Cazuela Fiestera (Festival Casserole)      Origin: Ecuador	Chicken Imoyo II      Origin: Nigeria

Page 5 of 24