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 2305 recipes in total:

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Dromedary Tibs      Origin: Djibouti	Ekpang Nkukwo      Origin: Nigeria	Fenkel in Soppes (Fennel in Sauce)      Origin: England
Drunken Chili      Origin: American	Ekpang Nkukwo (Cocoyam Pottage)      Origin: Nigeria	Féroce d'Avocat (Migan de fruit à pain)      Origin: Martinique
Dry Rice      Origin: Liberia	El Cocido      Origin: Spain	Fesenjoon (Persian Chicken)      Origin: Iran
Dublin Coddle      Origin: Ireland	El Indio Viejo      Origin: Nicaragua	Fettat Adis      Origin: Sudan
Dublin Coddle      Origin: Ireland	Elaichi Gosht (Lamb With Cardamom)      Origin: India	Feuilles de Manioc (Central African Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Central Africa
Dublin Lawyer      Origin: Scotland	Elumas Curry (Mutton Curry)      Origin: Sri Lanka	Feuilles de Manioc Malienne (Malian Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Mali
Duck and Green Pea Curry      Origin: India	Ema Datshi (Chillies with Cheese)      Origin: Bhutan	Ffesant Nadolig (Christmas Pheasant)      Origin: Welsh
Duck with Plums and Burdock      Origin: Fusion	Embractum Baianum (Baian Stew)      Origin: Roman	Fijian Chicken Curry      Origin: Fiji
Duckling Dar es Salaam      Origin: Tanzania	Embractum Baianum (Baian Stew)      Origin: Roman	Fijian Goat Curry      Origin: Fiji
Dulcia Domestica (Home-made dessert)      Origin: Roman	Emirati Yellow Rice      Origin: UAE	Filé Gumbo      Origin: Louisiana
Dulse and Beans      Origin: Britain	Empress Chili      Origin: American	Filet de Lotte au Cury (Curried Monkfish Fillet)      Origin: Senegal
Durban Bunny Chow      Origin: South Africa	Erebinthoi Knakosymmigeis (Chickpeas in Saffron)      Origin: Roman	Filetes in galyntyne      Origin: England
Dušené kysané zelí (Braised Sauerkraut)      Origin: Czech	Eru avec Garri (Eru with Garri)      Origin: Cameroon	Filipino Beef Rendang      Origin: Philippines
East African Prawn Curry      Origin: East Africa	Escabeche Nga Isdab (Sweet and Sour Skate Escabeche)      Origin: Philippines	Finnan Haddie      Origin: Scotland
East African Shrimp Curry      Origin: East Africa	Espaguetis Dominicanos (Dominican Republic Spaghetti)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Fish and Dried Mallow Leaf Stew      Origin: African Fusion
East African Vegetable Soup      Origin: East Africa	Esparregados de Bacalhau (Cod Esparregados)      Origin: Angola	Fish and Snail Sauce      Origin: Nigeria
Eba      Origin: Nigeria	Espinazo en salsa verde con verdolagas (Pork Neck in Tomatillo Sauce with Purslane)      Origin: Mexico	Fish Doopeaja      Origin: Bangladesh
Eba Piron Rouge (Beef and Red Gari)      Origin: Cameroon	Estofado (Chilean Beef Stew)      Origin: Chile	Fish Kofta Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian
EbunuEbunu Soup      Origin: Ghana	Estouffade de rognons à la Bretonne (Breton-style Kidney Stew)      Origin: France	Fish Newberg      Origin: Britain
Ecrevisses au Curry (Crayfish Curry)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Ewa Dodo (Black-eyed peas with Plantains)      Origin: Niger	Fish Stew      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Edikang Ikong Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ewedu      Origin: Nigeria	Fiskgryta (Fish Stew)      Origin: Sweden
Editan Soup II      Origin: Nigeria	Extumer Lamb Roast      Origin: Germany	Fiskgryta med citron och gräslök (Fish Stew with Lemon and Chives)      Origin: Sweden
Efere Usung Udia      Origin: Nigeria	F'rell am Rèisleck (Trout in Riesling Sauce)      Origin: Luxembourg	Fläskfilé med sås och ugnsstekta grönsaker (Pork Fillet with Sauce and Roast Vegetables)      Origin: Sweden
Efo Riro      Origin: Nigeria	Fërgesë e Tiranës me Mish Viçi (Tiranian Veal with Fried Cottage Cheese)      Origin: Albania	Foie au coco (Liver with Coconut)      Origin: Mayotte
Efo-riro (Vegetable Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Fögnè Sourtinaadi (Fonio Couscous with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Folon      Origin: Cameroon
Egg Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Faenum Graecum (Fenugreek)      Origin: Roman	Fool Medames (Egyptian Beans)      Origin: Egypt
Egg Pilau      Origin: India	Fafa (Taro Leaves with Coconut Cream)      Origin: Tahiti	For to make blank manger (To Make White Food)      Origin: England
Egredouce (Meat in Sweet and Sour Sauce)      Origin: England	Fagioli con le Cotiche (Beans with Pork Rind)      Origin: San Marino	For to make noumbles in lent (Stewed Fish Intestines for Lent)      Origin: England
Egredouce of fysche (Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce)      Origin: England	Fah-Fah (Soupe Djiboutienne)      Origin: Djibouti	Foufou de Banane à la Sauce Claire (Plantain Fufu with Clear Sauce)      Origin: Mali
Egusi Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Fante-Fante (Ghanaian Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Ghana	Foufou Dessi (White Sauce for Fufu)      Origin: Togo
Egusi with Efo      Origin: Nigeria	Fårikål (Lamb and cabbage stew)      Origin: Norway	Fouti Lafidi      Origin: Guinea
Eight-day Spiced Beef      Origin: British	Feijao de Oleo de Palma (Palm Oil Beans)      Origin: Angola	Frango com Bagique (Chicken with Spinach)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Eirin Mair Hufennog Gwent (Gwent Gooseberries and Cream)      Origin: Welsh	Feijoada (Maize, Mung Bean and Squash Stew)      Origin: East Timor
Eisbein mit Sauerkraut (Ham hock with Sauerkraut)      Origin: Germany	Feijoda      Origin: Brazil

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