Traditional Greek Beef Stifado Stew Recipe - Larder Love (2024)

FAQs

What does stifado mean in Greek? ›

The word stifado derives from the ancient Greek word tyfos (τύφος), which means steam. This is the root for the Latin word estufare, from which the Italian stufato (or Venetian stufado), the Italian word for stew, was born.

Greek Stifatho or Stifado is a go-to winter dish found in kitchens throughout Greece. The Venetians brought it across the sea in the 13th Century, along with other famous traditional dishes such as the Cretan Gamopilafo or Corfiot Pastit*ada.

Most casserole and stew dishes start off with the same base of onions, celery and carrot, sauteed gently to release the flavours. Sauteed means cooked gently and stirred often until the sugars wake up in the vegetables, allowing them to release their full flavour. You could add a little crushed garlic if you like that.

The most important key to making stew meat tender is being sure to cook it for a long time. If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours.

For example, chuck is a lean and tender cut of beef that works well in stew. However, if you would prefer a thicker and more flavorful stew, short ribs or oxtail may be better choices for you. To make a delicious stew, choose good-quality ingredients.

How do you thicken beef stifado? If you find that your beef stifado isn't as thick as you'd like it to be, you can easily remedy this. Towards the end of the cooking time, mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with a small amount of cold water to create a slurry.

Meat in traditional Greek cuisine and cooking was mainly reserved for the Sunday meal and for festive occasions. The main animal proteins in the Greek diet are lamb and goat, pork (especially in rural communities), poultry and some game. Fish and seafood, of course, are a seminal part of the Greek diet.

While an old-fashioned, traditional Irish stew tended to contain mutton or lamb, potatoes, and maybe a few carrots, modern takes on the comforting dish range widely. While Irish stew (in the modern sense) can be made with mutton, lamb, or beef, beef stew is always made with beef.

Vegetables: small chopped carrots, celery, and onion or shallot practically melt into the sauce. Mushrooms: button mushrooms are a nod to the quartered mushrooms many classic beef stew recipes call for, but are thinly sliced instead of being left in bigger pieces. Garlic: minced garlic brings lots of cozy flavor.

What is the secret to good stew? ›

What can you do to make stew more flavorful? Finish it with fresh herbs, of course! Except for thyme, herbs lose their flavor as they simmer. So add dried spices at the beginning of the cooking time and fresh spices (like parsley, dill, tarragon or rosemary) at the end to add a punch of fresh flavor.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

On the other hand, Xinomavro, often compared to Italy's Nebbiolo, is a more tannic and robust red wine. It's an excellent match for beef "stifado," a hearty stew made with slow-cooked beef, pearl onions, and a rich tomato sauce.

Stifado, pronounced stiff-ah-do, is a hearty Greek beef stew seasoned with warming spices, red wine, and loads of pearl onions. This stew, which is typically served as a Sunday family dinner on colder fall and winter days, is one of the many traditional Greek comfort food recipes.

Stifatho (στιφάδο)—sometimes spelled stifado—is a Greek stew dish. The word comes from "stufado," a dish brought to Greece by the Venetians in the 13th century after the fall of Constantinople and before the Ottoman invasion. It's the Greek version of comfort food—warm, filling, and satisfying.

Meze (also spelled mezze or mezé) (/ˈmɛzeɪ/, /ˈmɛzɛ/) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in Albanian, Bosnian, Armenian, Kurdish, Levantine, Turkish, Bulgarian, Greek. It is similar to Spanish tapas and Italian antipasti. A mezze may be served as a part of a multi-course meal or form a meal in itself.

In Athens, Greece, a popular street food option is Gyros: pork or chicken served in pita bread. It is one of the more popular variations of souvlaki, the Greek word for meat on a spit. DW explains what makes authentic gyros so good. https://p.dw.com/p/4eygQ. Advertisem*nt.

Stew once referred to a public bath or brothel

This word was rooted in the Latin extufare, meaning "evaporate," which was in turn borrowed from the Greek word typhos, meaning "smoke." The risqué origins of stew's name lie in the final definition of the Old French estuve — a heated room.