What Greek dish is a stew of beef with pearl onions?

What Greek dish is a stew of beef with pearl onions? The answer is Stifado. It is a slow-cooked Greek stew in which beef is braised with small whole onions, usually in a richly seasoned sauce containing tomato, wine or vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, and warm spices such as cinnamon. The onions are central to the dish, not merely a garnish.

Stifado is a cooking style as much as a single fixed recipe. Beef is common, but Greek versions may use rabbit, hare, veal, goat, pork, snails, or even octopus. The name is related to Italian stufato, meaning a stewed or braised dish, reflecting culinary exchange in the eastern Mediterranean.

A common mix-up is assuming every stifado must contain beef. Beef stifado is one of the best-known versions, but the defining idea is meat or another main ingredient slowly cooked with onions and a concentrated sauce. It is often served with bread, potatoes, rice, or pasta to absorb the sauce.