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 1816 recipes in total:

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Emirati Yellow Rice      Origin: UAE	Fish Newberg      Origin: Britain	Funchi      Origin: Aruba
Empress Chili      Origin: American	Fish Stew      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Funchi (Polenta)      Origin: Bonaire
Erebinthoi Knakosymmigeis (Chickpeas in Saffron)      Origin: Roman	Fiskgryta (Fish Stew)      Origin: Sweden	Funchi (Polenta)      Origin: Curacao
Espaguetis Dominicanos (Dominican Republic Spaghetti)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Fiskgryta med citron och gräslök (Fish Stew with Lemon and Chives)      Origin: Sweden	Funchi      Origin: Sint Eustatius
Estofado (Chilean Beef Stew)      Origin: Chile	Fläskfilé med sås och ugnsstekta grönsaker (Pork Fillet with Sauce and Roast Vegetables)      Origin: Sweden	Funges (Mushrooms)      Origin: England
Estouffade de rognons à la Bretonne (Breton-style Kidney Stew)      Origin: France	Foie au coco (Liver with Coconut)      Origin: Mayotte	Furmente with porpays (Grain Pottage with Porpoise)      Origin: England
Ewa Dodo (Black-eyed peas with Plantains)      Origin: Niger	Folon      Origin: Cameroon	Futali      Origin: Malawi
Ewedu      Origin: Nigeria	Fool Medames (Egyptian Beans)      Origin: Egypt	Futari (Sweet Potato and Pumpkin in Coconut Milk)      Origin: Tanzania
Extumer Lamb Roast      Origin: Germany	For to make blank manger (To Make White Food)      Origin: England	Fyletes in galyntyne (Fillets in a Sauce of Meat Juices)      Origin: England
F'rell am Rèisleck (Trout in Riesling Sauce)      Origin: Luxembourg	For to make noumbles in lent (Stewed Fish Intestines for Lent)      Origin: England	Fyletus in Galentyne (Fillets in a Sauce of Meat Juices)      Origin: England
Fërgesë e Tiranës me Mish Viçi (Tiranian Veal with Fried Cottage Cheese)      Origin: Albania	Foufou de Banane à la Sauce Claire (Plantain Fufu with Clear Sauce)      Origin: Mali	Gaeng Khiaw Waen (Green Curry with Pork)      Origin: Thailand
Fögnè Sourtinaadi (Fonio Couscous with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Foufou Dessi (White Sauce for Fufu)      Origin: Togo	Gaeng Ki Lek (Northern Thai Pork and Ki Lek Curry with Fingerroot)      Origin: Thailand
Faenum Graecum (Fenugreek)      Origin: Roman	Fouti Lafidi      Origin: Guinea	Gaeng Ki Lek (Northern Thai Pork and Ki Lek Curry with Fingerroot)      Origin: Thailand
Fah-Fah (Soupe Djiboutienne)      Origin: Djibouti	Frango com Bagique (Chicken with Spinach)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Gaeng Pa-naeng (Panang Curry)      Origin: Thailand
Feijao de Oleo de Palma (Palm Oil Beans)      Origin: Angola	Frango Zambeziana (Zambezi Chicken)      Origin: Mozambique	Gaeng Som (Thai Sour Curry)      Origin: Thailand
Feijoda      Origin: Brazil	Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: West Africa	Gaeng Som (Thai Sour Curry)      Origin: Thailand
Fenkel in Soppes (Fennel in Sauce)      Origin: England	Fricase de Pollo (Cuban Chicken Fricassee)      Origin: Cuba	Galo Soup      Origin: Liberia
Féroce d'Avocat (Migan de fruit à pain)      Origin: Martinique	Fricasée de Gibier (Fricasee of Bushmeat)      Origin: French Guiana	Gambas ou langoustines au pastis (Prawns or Langoustines with Pastis)      Origin: Monaco
Fesenjoon (Persian Chicken)      Origin: Iran	Fricassée de Coq (Chicken Fricassee)      Origin: Mauritius	Gambian Fish Yassa      Origin: Gambia
Fettat Adis      Origin: Sudan	Fricassé de chatrou (Chatrou Fricassee)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Garaasa be Dama (Sudanese Flatbread with Meat Sauce)      Origin: Sudan
Feuilles de Manioc (Central African Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Central Africa	Fricassé de lambis (Queen Conch Fricassee)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Garbansos con salchichas (Chickpeas with Sausages)      Origin: Colombia
Feuilles de Manioc Malienne (Malian Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Mali	Fricassé de ouassous (Fricassée of Freshwater Prawns)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Gari aux Crevettes (Gari with Prawns)      Origin: Cameroon
Ffesant Nadolig (Christmas Pheasant)      Origin: Welsh	Fried Bistort Greens      Origin: African Fusion	Gari Foto      Origin: Ghana
Fijian Chicken Curry      Origin: Fiji	Fried Chicken Emirati Style      Origin: UAE	Garlic Roasted Chicken      Origin: American
Fijian Goat Curry      Origin: Fiji	Fried Lamb’s Kidneys with Guinness and Mushroom Sauce      Origin: Ireland	Gazpacho Manchego (Manchego Gazpacho)      Origin: Spain
Filé Gumbo      Origin: Louisiana	Frikkadel Curry      Origin: South Africa	Gboma Dessi (Spinach Sauce with Beef)      Origin: Togo
Filet de Lotte au Cury (Curried Monkfish Fillet)      Origin: Senegal	Frikkadels      Origin: South Africa	Gebraaide Hoender (Spiced Roast Chicken)      Origin: South Africa
Filetes in galyntyne      Origin: England	Fruit and Bacon Braised Red Cabbage      Origin: Britain	Gelyne in Dubbatte (Hen in Wine Broth)      Origin: England
Filipino Beef Rendang      Origin: Philippines	Fruity Beef Casserole      Origin: Britain	Gerollte Kalbsbrust (Rolled Veal Breast)      Origin: Liechtenstein
Finnan Haddie      Origin: Scotland	Fruity Chicken Curry      Origin: African Fusion	Gesmoorde Vis (Salt Cod and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: South Africa
Fish and Dried Mallow Leaf Stew      Origin: African Fusion	Fruity Chicken Curry      Origin: India	Gestowe Soetpatats (Slow-cooked Sweet Potatoes)      Origin: South Africa
Fish and Snail Sauce      Origin: Nigeria	Frumente yn lentyn (Frumenty in Lent)      Origin: England	Gestowe Soetpatats (Slow-cooked Sweet Potatoes)      Origin: South Africa
Fish Doopeaja      Origin: Bangladesh	Fryplantain and Beans      Origin: Ghana
Fish Kofta Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Fulkopir Baati Jhaal (Potato and Cauliflower Stew)      Origin: Bangladesh

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