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 2116 recipes in total:

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Trinidadian Pepper Pot      Origin: Trinidad	Usilampatti Kozhi Kuzhambu (Chicken Kuzhambu)      Origin: India	Vyolette (Violet Pudding)      Origin: England
Trinidadian Turkey Curry      Origin: Trinidad	Usupu (Eddoe Purée with Fish)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Waakye      Origin: Ghana
Tripe and Onions      Origin: England	V'sachy (Pumpkin Leaf Stew)      Origin: Zambia	Wagasi in Sauce      Origin: Benin
Trondro Gasy (Tilapia in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Madagascar	Végétarien Kansiyé (Vegetarian Kansiyé)      Origin: Guinea	Wardonys in syryp (Pears in Syrup)      Origin: England
Troskinti Raudoni Kopustai (Braised Red Cabbage with Sour Cream)      Origin: Russia	Vaca Atolada (Beef Ribs with Cassava)      Origin: Brazil	Waykaab (Milk with Okra Powder)      Origin: Sudan
Tsebhi Birsen (Spicy Lentils)      Origin: Eritrea	Valentine Pork au Poivre      Origin: Britain	West Sumatran Fish Curry      Origin: Sumatra
Tsebhi Derho (Spicy Chicken)      Origin: Eritrea	Vary Amin'anana (Rice with Greens and Minced Beef)      Origin: Madagascar	Wet Thar Hin (Pork Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Tsebhi Sega (Spicy Minced Meat)      Origin: Eritrea	Vary Amin'Anana (Hot Pepper Beef)      Origin: Madagascar	White Chili      Origin: America
Tsebhi Shiro (Spicy Peanuts)      Origin: Eritrea	Veal Curry with Bananas      Origin: Uganda	White Nile Fish      Origin: South Sudan
Tsuivan (Stewed Vegetables, Meat and Fresh Noodles)      Origin: Mongolia	Veal in Tomato Sauce      Origin: Andorra	Wild Food Tacacá      Origin: Fusion
Tuh'u (Mesopotamian Lamb and Beetroot Stew)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Veal Pilaf      Origin: Fusion	Wild Greens Gnocci in Tomato Sauce      Origin: Britain
Tuna with Safran and Coconut Milk (Tuna with Cumin and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Seychelles	Vegetable Alecha      Origin: Ethiopia	Wild Mushroom Stew      Origin: Britain
Tunisian Byesar (Tunisian Broad Bean Dip)      Origin: Tunisia	Vegetable Curry      Origin: Kenya	Wild Mustard Greens with Ham Hocks      Origin: American
Tunisian Spiced Lamb Balls      Origin: Tunisia	Vegetable Curry II      Origin: Britain	Winter Parsnip Stew      Origin: Czech
Tunisian Vegetable Couscous      Origin: Tunisia	Vegetable Curry III      Origin: Britain	Wonchoi      Origin: Ghana
Turbot in Kerala Red Curry Sauce      Origin: India	Vegetable Ndiwo      Origin: Malawi	Wouré Burakhè Magilinri (Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Guinea
Turkey Curry with Yams      Origin: Fusion	Vegetable Pilau      Origin: India	Xarém      Origin: Portugal
Turkey Etouffee      Origin: American	Vegetable Potjie      Origin: Botswana	Xerem de Festa (A Feast Dish)      Origin: Cape Verde
Turkey Leftovers Curry      Origin: Britain	Vegetable Tagine      Origin: North Africa	Xinjiang Lamb Casserole      Origin: China
Turkey Leftovers Hotpot      Origin: Britain	Vegetarian Chili Beans      Origin: American	Yétissé de Chèvre (Yétissé of Goat)      Origin: Guinea
Turkey Vindaloo Curry      Origin: Fusion	Vele in Bokenade (Veal in Sauce)      Origin: England	Yétissé de Poulet (Chicken Yétissé)      Origin: Guinea
Türlüh (Mixed Vegetable Stew)      Origin: Armenia	Velvet Shank and Burdock Soup      Origin: Fusion	Yam and Beans      Origin: Nigeria
Tutu (Cornmeal Porridge with Black-eyed Peas)      Origin: Aruba	Venison and Dark Chocolate Chili      Origin: Fusion	Yam Curry      Origin: Vanuatu
Tuvaluan Fish Curry      Origin: Tuvalu	Venison, Potato and Mushroom Stew      Origin: Britain	Yam with Greens, Onion, and Okra      Origin: Nigeria
Tweed Kettle      Origin: Scotland	Venyson in Broth (Venison in Broth)      Origin: England	Yambo      Origin: Aruba
Udang Masak Lemak Nenas (Pineapple Prawn Curry)      Origin: Malaysia	Vermicelles (Vermicelli)      Origin: Mauritania	Yangon Kyet Thar Hin (Yangon Chicken Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Ugandan Curried Potatoes      Origin: Uganda	Vert desire      Origin: England	Yassa Poulet (Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Senegal
Ugandan Matooke      Origin: Uganda	Verulam-style Curried Jackfruit      Origin: South Africa	Yataklete Kilkili (Ethiopian Ginger Vegetables)      Origin: Ethiopia
Ugandan Smoked Fish Stew      Origin: Uganda	Viande Nyembwe (Meat Nyembwe)      Origin: Gabon	Yebeh (Yam and Fish in Red Palm Oil)      Origin: Sierra Leone
Ujeni Ndiwo      Origin: Malawi	Vulvae Steriles (Sterile Sows' Wombs)      Origin: Roman	Yebeh Stew      Origin: Sierra Leone
Umngqusho (Samp and Beans with Potatoes)      Origin: South Africa	Vulvae [et] Steriles (Sterile Sow's Womb)      Origin: Roman	Yellow Coconut Rice      Origin: Tanzania
Un bon cassoulet (A Good Cassoulet)      Origin: France	Vulvae [et] Steriles (Sterile Sow's Womb)      Origin: Roman	Yellow Rice with Raisins      Origin: Southern Africa
Upma      Origin: Britain	Vyannd Cypre of Samon (A Cypriot Dish of Salmon)      Origin: England
Urulaikilangu Varuval (Potato Chip Curry)      Origin: India	Vyne Grace      Origin: England

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