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 2485 recipes in total:

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Ema Datshi (Chillies with Cheese)      Origin: Bhutan	Fettat Adis      Origin: Sudan	Fricassé de chatrou (Chatrou Fricassee)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Embractum Baianum (Baian Stew)      Origin: Roman	Feuilles de Manioc (Central African Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Central Africa	Fricassé de lambis (Queen Conch Fricassee)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Embractum Baianum (Baian Stew)      Origin: Roman	Feuilles de Manioc Malienne (Malian Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Mali	Fricassé de ouassous (Fricassée of Freshwater Prawns)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Emirati Yellow Rice      Origin: UAE	Ffesant Nadolig (Christmas Pheasant)      Origin: Welsh	Fried Ata Sauce      Origin: Nigeria
Empress Chili      Origin: American	Fijian Chicken Curry      Origin: Fiji	Fried Bistort Greens      Origin: African Fusion
Erebinthoi Knakosymmigeis (Chickpeas in Saffron)      Origin: Roman	Fijian Goat Curry      Origin: Fiji	Fried Chicken Emirati Style      Origin: UAE
Eru avec Garri (Eru with Garri)      Origin: Cameroon	Filé Gumbo      Origin: Louisiana	Fried Lamb's Kidneys with Guinness and Mushroom Sauce      Origin: Ireland
Escabeche Nga Isdab (Sweet and Sour Skate Escabeche)      Origin: Philippines	Filet de Lotte au Cury (Curried Monkfish Fillet)      Origin: Senegal	Frijoles Paisas      Origin: Colombia
Espaguetis Dominicanos (Dominican Republic Spaghetti)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Filetes in galyntyne      Origin: England	Frikkadel Curry      Origin: South Africa
Esparregados de Bacalhau (Cod Esparregados)      Origin: Angola	Filipino Beef Rendang      Origin: Philippines	Frikkadels      Origin: South Africa
Espinazo en salsa verde con verdolagas (Pork Neck in Tomatillo Sauce with Purslane)      Origin: Mexico	Finnan Haddie      Origin: Scotland	Fruit and Bacon Braised Red Cabbage      Origin: Britain
Estofado (Chilean Beef Stew)      Origin: Chile	Fish and Dried Mallow Leaf Stew      Origin: African Fusion	Fruity Beef Casserole      Origin: Britain
Estouffade de rognons à la Bretonne (Breton-style Kidney Stew)      Origin: France	Fish and Snail Sauce      Origin: Nigeria	Fruity Chicken Curry      Origin: African Fusion
Etli Kapuska (Turkish Cabbage Stew With Meat)      Origin: Turkey	Fish Doopeaja      Origin: Bangladesh	Fruity Chicken Curry      Origin: India
Ewa Dodo (Black-eyed peas with Plantains)      Origin: Niger	Fish Kofta Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Frumente yn lentyn (Frumenty in Lent)      Origin: England
Ewedu      Origin: Nigeria	Fish Newberg      Origin: Britain	Fryplantain and Beans      Origin: Ghana
Extumer Lamb Roast      Origin: Germany	Fish Stew      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	FSM Tinola      Origin: Federated States Micronesia
F'rell am Rèisleck (Trout in Riesling Sauce)      Origin: Luxembourg	Fiskgryta (Fish Stew)      Origin: Sweden	Ful Medames      Origin: Somaliland
Fërgesë e Tiranës me Mish Viçi (Tiranian Veal with Fried Cottage Cheese)      Origin: Albania	Fiskgryta med citron och gräslök (Fish Stew with Lemon and Chives)      Origin: Sweden	Fulkopir Baati Jhaal (Potato and Cauliflower Stew)      Origin: Bangladesh
Fögnè Sourtinaadi (Fonio Couscous with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Fläskfilé med sås och ugnsstekta grönsaker (Pork Fillet with Sauce and Roast Vegetables)      Origin: Sweden	Funchi      Origin: Aruba
Faenum Graecum (Fenugreek)      Origin: Roman	Foie au coco (Liver with Coconut)      Origin: Mayotte	Funchi (Polenta)      Origin: Bonaire
Fafa (Taro Leaves with Coconut Cream)      Origin: Tahiti	Folon      Origin: Cameroon	Funchi (Polenta)      Origin: Curacao
Fagioli con le Cotiche (Beans with Pork Rind)      Origin: San Marino	Fool Medames (Egyptian Beans)      Origin: Egypt	Funchi      Origin: Sint Eustatius
Fah-Fah (Soupe Djiboutienne)      Origin: Djibouti	For to make blank manger (To Make White Food)      Origin: England	Funges (Mushrooms)      Origin: England
Fante-Fante (Ghanaian Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Ghana	For to make noumbles in lent (Stewed Fish Intestines for Lent)      Origin: England	Furmente with porpays (Grain Pottage with Porpoise)      Origin: England
Fårikål (Lamb and cabbage stew)      Origin: Norway	Foufou de Banane à la Sauce Claire (Plantain Fufu with Clear Sauce)      Origin: Mali	Futali      Origin: Malawi
Fasolia Soliatica (Haricot Beans, Soleas Style)      Origin: Cyprus	Foufou Dessi (White Sauce for Fufu)      Origin: Togo	Futari (Sweet Potato and Pumpkin in Coconut Milk)      Origin: Tanzania
Fassoulia (Green Bean Stew)      Origin: Armenia	Fouti Lafidi      Origin: Guinea	Fyletes in galyntyne (Fillets in a Sauce of Meat Juices)      Origin: England
Feijao de Oleo de Palma (Palm Oil Beans)      Origin: Angola	Frango com Bagique (Chicken with Spinach)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Fyletus in Galentyne (Fillets in a Sauce of Meat Juices)      Origin: England
Feijoada (Maize, Mung Bean and Squash Stew)      Origin: East Timor	Frango Zambeziana (Zambezi Chicken)      Origin: Mozambique	Gaeng Khiaw Waen (Green Curry with Pork)      Origin: Thailand
Feijoda      Origin: Brazil	Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: West Africa	Gaeng Ki Lek (Northern Thai Pork and Ki Lek Curry with Fingerroot)      Origin: Thailand
Fenkel in Soppes (Fennel in Sauce)      Origin: England	Fricase de Pollo (Cuban Chicken Fricassee)      Origin: Cuba	Gaeng Ki Lek (Northern Thai Pork and Ki Lek Curry with Fingerroot)      Origin: Thailand
Féroce d'Avocat (Migan de fruit à pain)      Origin: Martinique	Fricasée de Gibier (Fricasee of Bushmeat)      Origin: French Guiana
Fesenjoon (Persian Chicken)      Origin: Iran	Fricassée de Coq (Chicken Fricassee)      Origin: Mauritius

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