Every Greek holiday will feature at least one helping of one of the country’s national dishes, the aromatic, gently spiced beef stew known as Stifado. Its presence is a given on any taverna menu, alongside moussaka and souvlaki, and when made well is a surefire winner. The stew is cooked slowly, and features a triumvirate of aromatic spices which give the dish its distinct character, these being cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Stifado from anywhere in Greece will always include these three, but in some areas a small amount of cumin is also used. This recipe is one we learned on the island of Zakynthos, and the result is guaranteed every time as the cooking method is so simple. One important point – don’t brown your meat as you would in most recipes. The result depends on the meat being able to absorb all the flavour of the sauce, and becoming meltingly tender. The recipe makes plenty of stifado, but it freezes really well so not a problem!
Ingredients
750g stewing steak, cut into largish chunks200g small shallots or pickling onions
½ a bottle red wine
2tbs tomato puree (or 1 tbs tomato powder)
a generous slug of Greek extra virgin olive oil
a smaller slug of red wine vinegar
3tsp garlic puree
3tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp ground allspice
1tsp ground cloves
1tsp ground cumin
1tbs wild herb blend
6 bay leaves
6 allspice berries
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