Stews have been around probably 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. 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.

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 1739 recipes in total:

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West Sumatran Fish Curry      Origin: Sumatra	Xinjiang Lamb Casserole      Origin: China	Yetakelt W'et (Spiced Vegetable Stew)      Origin: Djibouti
Wet Thar Hin (Pork Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Yétissé de Chèvre (Yétissé of Goat)      Origin: Guinea	Yétissé de Poisson (Fish Yetisse)      Origin: Mali
White Chili      Origin: America	Yétissé de Poulet (Chicken Yétissé)      Origin: Guinea	Ysgwydd Cig Oen Cymreig wedi ei bobi'n araf â chyri (Slow-cooked curried shoulder of Welsh Lamb)      Origin: Welsh
White Nile Fish      Origin: South Sudan	Yam and Beans      Origin: Nigeria	Yuk Gae Jang (Spicy Beef and Vegetable Soup)      Origin: Korea
Wild Food Tacacá      Origin: Fusion	Yam with Greens, Onion, and Okra      Origin: Nigeria	Zürcher Eintopf (Zürich Style Hotpot)      Origin: Switzerland
Wild Greens Gnocci in Tomato Sauce      Origin: Britain	Yangon Kyet Thar Hin (Yangon Chicken Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (Cut Meat, Zürich Style)      Origin: Switzerland
Wild Mushroom Stew      Origin: Britain	Yassa Poulet (Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Senegal	Zamé      Origin: Mali
Wild Mustard Greens with Ham Hocks      Origin: American	Yataklete Kilkili (Ethiopian Ginger Vegetables)      Origin: Ethiopia	Zanzibar Pilau      Origin: Tanzania
Winter Parsnip Stew      Origin: Czech	Yebeh (Yam and Fish in Red Palm Oil)      Origin: Sierra Leone	Zarzuela de Mariscos (Seafood Zarzuela)      Origin: Spain
Wonchoi      Origin: Ghana	Yebeh Stew      Origin: Sierra Leone	Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Saffron Chicken with Barberry Rice)      Origin: Iran
Wouré Burakhè Magilinri (Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Yellow Coconut Rice      Origin: Tanzania	Zigni (Eritrean Spiced Meat Stew)      Origin: Eritrea
Xarém      Origin: Portugal	Yellow Rice with Raisins      Origin: Southern Africa	Zom (Bitter Greens with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon
Xerem de Festa (A Feast Dish)      Origin: Cape Verde	Yemiser W'et (Spicy Lentil Stew)      Origin: Ethiopia	Zuppa di Ciliege (Stewed Cherries)      Origin: San Marino

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