The Hairy Bikers' beef stifado recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is stifado made of? ›

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.

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.

Stifado (Greek spelling στιφάδο, pronounced: 'stie-FA-doh') is a Greek stew made with beef and small silver onions, cooked together in a tomato sauce. A good stifado is gradually created, carefully prepared, then simmered for hours at a time.

Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality and was founded on the "Mediterranean triad": wheat, olive oil, and wine, with meat being rarely eaten and fish being more common.

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.

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.

From Ancient Greek κρέας (kréas), from Proto-Hellenic *kréwas, from Proto-Indo-European *kréwh₂s.

The traditional flavors of Greek food come from the sun-drenched Greek herbs and spices grown along the hillsides on the main island of Greece. Dill weed, thyme, oregano and mint are Greek essentials that really add bold character to fish, meat or vegetables.

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.

Is stew Irish or Scottish? ›

Irish stew is considered a national dish of Ireland. Irish stew is a celebrated Irish dish, yet its composition is a matter of dispute.

“The key difference between braising and stewing,” he explains, “is the cut of meat. Braising is for cheaper, larger cuts of meat, such as beef cheeks. Stewing would use smaller cuts of meat that are uniform in size and it's key to stewing that the meat is totally immersed in liquid.

Spezzatino is an Italian stew consisting of small pieces of meat that are cooked in a small amount of liquid. It's usually made from the less tender cuts of beef, lamb, mutton, or pork, which all have a nice amount of connective tissue and cartilage that breaks down into a hearty gravy.

The origins of Irish stew are somewhat shrouded in mystery, but it's believed to have originated in the 17th or 18th century. At that time, the dish was often made by shepherds and rural farmers who had access to only a few ingredients but needed a nourishing meal to sustain them through long days of work.

The first time that the Old French word estuve jumped to English shores as "stew," it meant either a stove, a heated room, or a cooking cauldron. That probably comes from way back, from the Latin extufare, meaning "evaporate," whose roots waft even further back to the Greek word typhos, "smoke."

Roasted and sliced meat (usually pork or chicken, rarely beef or lamb) on a turning spit, typically served with sauces like tzatziki and garnishes (tomato, onions) on pita bread (a popular fast food in Greece and Cyprus).

The origins of Irish stew are somewhat shrouded in mystery, but it's believed to have originated in the 17th or 18th century. At that time, the dish was often made by shepherds and rural farmers who had access to only a few ingredients but needed a nourishing meal to sustain them through long days of work.