Many ways to stew
Katerina The humble stew: the most versatile cooking pattern of them all
I don't know about you, but I'll happily admit that I hardly ever get tired of some sort or other of stew - the variations on the theme are literally endless!
A stew is one of the most versatile cooking patterns you can use in the kitchen: no wonder that every cuisine around the world has their own iconic stews to show off.
And if you look more closely, even the most exotic sounding stew, is actually 'just' a stew: they all follow the same basic pattern!
They all feature their own local twists, of course, in terms of ingredients and/or preparation, but they are just tweaks on the same simple template:
- a base (usually involving onions) + aromatics
- a liquid (water, stock, wine, tomato, coconut milk, etc)
- core ingredients of veg and/or meat (as a feature and/or to add bulk)
- 'special' ingredients (which define the 'special' taste)
- add-ons that serve various purposes, e.g. thickening, adding creaminess, defining or refining the taste.
Stews are closely related to soup (more soupy = more liquid) and sauce (more condensed, meant to be eaten over something else cooked separately). In a stew everything is cooked together - the perfect one pot dish!
We could look at a lot of examples - from the most common to the most exotic - and still find that they all fit that one pattern.
- any curry (tomato or coconut based) or chilli
- the many classic European stews (often involving wine or beer as the liquid)
- legumes (beans/lentils/peas) as stew or soup (e.g. dhal or Greek fasolada bean stew)
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Here is just a few to illustrate the concept, including some of my regional favourites:
Lentil stew
Deeply comforting, nourishing and really simple (more here)
Aubergine & chickpea stew
An example of the 'use up whatever is in the fridge' stew (for a step by step breakdown see here)
Greek celery stew
With the unique avgolemono (lemon & egg) sauce, and usually involving pork (a winning combination) but there are many variations. (I will share more about this favourite dish of mine some other time.)
Balinese pork stew
The twist: the spiced meat is baked first, before being simmered in a sauce. A flavour turbo charge! (Check out the details in this post)
Persian fesenjan
Featuring pomegranate & walnuts. This sounds very exotic yet it closely follows the 'stew' pattern - it's the local ingredients that make all the difference. (More about it here)
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Last but not least: here is a chart with a few flavour ideas for improvised stews (works both in a pot or a slow cooker)
Sure, you can just follow the chart, but even better to start making your own charts based on the ingredients in your kitchen and flavours you like. Give it a try!
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To stew or not to stew?
For me the answer is a resounding yes!
What's your favourite stew?
