How To Stew
from Italian Traditional Food

A slow cooked stew is full of flavour

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Stew is an ideal winter dish. It is full of flavour, is filling and mouth-watering. Stewing means cooking food gently in liquid. The food can be meat of any kind, fish, vegetables or fruit.

Type of meat used for stewing

In general, the meat used is not from the most expensive cuts, but from those that require long, slow cooking to make them tender and to bring out their flavour. Cuts with a slight marbling of fat or gristle are excellent stewed, and this marbling makes meat more succulent.

White stew

A stew can be either white or brown. In a white stew, sometimes called a fricassee, the meat is not browned but blanched to whiten and to take away strong flavours before cooking. The liquid is usually thickened after the meat has been cooked, or towards the end, as in Irish stew, when the potatoes break up to thicken the gravy. A white stew is usually cooked on top of the stove.

Brown stew

In a brown stew, sometimes called a ragout, meat is browned with or without vegetables and a little flour is stirred in just before the stock is added. It may be cooked either on top of the stove, or inside the oven which is easier.

Liquid in brown and white stews must never be allowed to do more than simmer, since boiling will only toughen the meat.

A stew may be an everyday dish, but it is easily turned into a party special by adding wine, cream or a garnish.

Types of stew

Fricassee.This describes various stews of meat, poultry, fish or vegetables, usually made with a white stock. In France this term refers almost exclusively to a poultry dish in a white sauce.

Ragout (brown). Pieces of meat, poultry or fish are lightly browned and then slowly cooked in stock to which vegetables are added.

Salmis. This is a type of ragout, usually of game or poultry. The meat is first lightly roasted, then jointed and gently simmered for a short time in a rich, brown sauce.

Blanquette. This is a white ragout of lamb, veal, chicken or rabbit, bound with egg yolks and cream, and sometimes garnished with small onions and mushrooms.

Navarin. This is the French word for a mutton or lamb stew made with root vegetables.

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