Chef Dimitra
Bourdeto Kerkyra (Μπουρδέτο Κέρκυρας)
Corfu's bourdeto is a red, pepper-hot fish braise, traditionally made with scorpionfish, potatoes, tomato, and enough heat to announce the Ionian table.
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Ionian Stifado (Στιφάδο) with Rabbit or Beef
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Ionian stifado is rabbit or beef braised with a proud weight of pearl onions, red wine vinegar, tomato, cinnamon, and clove until the sauce turns dark and glossy.
Soups & Stews
Greek
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
One Pot
45 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•3 hr total
Yield6 servings
Ionian stifado is the onion braise of the old Venetian-facing islands: rabbit when the market has it, beef when the pot needs to feed a family, and almost the same weight of small onions as meat. Cinnamon and clove sit quietly behind the tomato, red wine, and vinegar. The onions are not decoration. They are the dish.
The method that decides it comes after the onions go in. Don't stir. Hold the pot by its handles and shake it now and then, so the small onions stay whole while their sweetness moves into the sauce. A spoon breaks them, and then stifado becomes any red stew with onion pieces. That isn't this dish.
This is patient food, but it isn't difficult. Brown the meat well, build the sauce, settle the onions in, and let the low flame do the work. In my Thessaloniki kitchen I write it with both rabbit and beef because real Greek kitchens cook from the market first. Λίγα και καλά: good onions, good vinegar, good olive oil, and patience.
The word stifado is tied to the Italian stufato, a braise, and it settled in the Ionian islands during the long Venetian presence; Corfu, for example, was under Venetian rule from 1386 to 1797. Greek cooks made the dish their own with a near-equal weight of small onions, wine vinegar, tomato, and the warm spices that moved through island ports. On Orthodox fasting days, the same onion-and-vinegar logic appears in octopus stifado, a nistisimo dish with its own place in the calendar.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
rabbit or beef chuck
Quantity
1.4kg rabbit or 1.2kg beef
rabbit jointed and patted dry; beef cut into 5cm pieces
small pearl onions or very small shallots
Quantity
1.2kg
unpeeled; root ends kept intact after peeling
fine sea salt
Quantity
12g
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
90ml
divided
garlic
Quantity
4 cloves
thinly sliced
tomato paste
Quantity
25g
dry red wine
Quantity
250ml
red wine vinegar
Quantity
60ml
grated ripe tomatoes or crushed canned tomatoes
Quantity
400g
warm water or light stock
Quantity
250ml
bay leaves
Quantity
2
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1
about 6cm
whole cloves (garifala), the spice
Quantity
4
allspice berries (bahari)
Quantity
6
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| rabbit or beef chuckrabbit jointed and patted dry; beef cut into 5cm pieces | 1.4kg rabbit or 1.2kg beef |
| small pearl onions or very small shallotsunpeeled; root ends kept intact after peeling | 1.2kg |
| fine sea saltdivided | 12g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oildivided | 90ml |
| garlicthinly sliced | 4 cloves |
| tomato paste | 25g |
| dry red wine | 250ml |
| red wine vinegar | 60ml |
| grated ripe tomatoes or crushed canned tomatoes | 400g |
| warm water or light stock | 250ml |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| cinnamon stickabout 6cm | 1 |
| whole cloves (garifala), the spice | 4 |
| allspice berries (bahari) | 6 |
Equipment Needed
- •wide heavy lidded pot, 28-30cm
- •small saucepan for blanching pearl onions
Instructions
- 1
Peel the onions
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Drop in the pearl onions for 45 seconds, then drain and cool them under cold water. Trim only the dry tip, slip off the skins, and leave the root end just intact so the onions hold their shape in the pot.
If the onions are different sizes, keep the smallest whole and halve only the very largest shallots through the root. - 2
Brown the meat
Season the rabbit or beef with 10g of the salt and the black pepper. Warm 60ml olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the meat in batches, 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the cut sides are deep brown. Move each batch to a plate. Give the pieces room, because color is the beginning of the sauce.
- 3
Color the onions
Add the remaining 30ml olive oil if the pot looks dry. Add the peeled onions and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, rolling them gently in the pot, until they take golden patches but do not soften through. Lift them into a bowl and keep them whole.
- 4
Build the sauce
Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, just until the paste darkens. Pour in the red wine and vinegar, scraping the browned bits from the bottom. Add the tomatoes, warm water or stock, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and the remaining 2g salt. Bring it to a low bubble.
- 5
Start the braise
Return the meat and its juices to the pot. The liquid should come about halfway up the pieces, so add a little water if the pot is dry. Cover and simmer gently until the meat has begun to soften: 30 minutes for rabbit, or about 1 hour 15 minutes for beef.
- 6
Add the onions
Nestle the browned onions around the meat. From this point, don't stir. Hold the pot by its handles and shake it gently every 15 minutes, keeping the heat low, until the meat is tender and the onions are whole and glossy, 45 to 60 minutes for rabbit or 60 to 75 minutes for beef. A spoon breaks the onions and turns their sweetness into a muddy sauce; whole onions are what make stifado itself.
If the sauce catches at the edge, add 2 tablespoons water and shake the pot. Do not dig at the onions. - 7
Set the sauce
Uncover the pot for the last 10 to 15 minutes if the sauce is thin. It should be dark red-brown, glossy, and thick enough to coat a spoon. Remove the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cloves, and allspice if you can find them easily. Taste for salt and vinegar; the sauce should be sweet from the onions, with a clean sharp edge.
- 8
Rest and serve
Take the pot off the heat and let the stifado rest for 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with hilopites, rice, fried potatoes, or good bread for the sauce. Do not chase it with lemon or feta. Stifado has its own balance: onion sweetness, wine, vinegar, and spice.
Chef Tips
- •Rabbit is the older animal for many island and village pots, but beef chuck is a real Greek kitchen's substitute when rabbit isn't good or available. Do not use lean beef. It dries before the onions give you the sauce.
- •Use small onions with tight skins and firm necks. Pearl onions are right; very small shallots are acceptable. Large onions cut into chunks will taste fine, but they won't give you stifado's whole, sweet onion bodies.
- •Keep the vinegar. It doesn't make the dish sour when it cooks properly; it sharpens the onion sweetness and keeps the sauce from becoming heavy.
- •Stifado is better the next day. Chill it in the pot if you have space, then rewarm it slowly and shake the pot instead of stirring.
- •For a fasting table, don't strip the meat from this recipe and call it finished. Make octopus stifado, the nistisimo cousin, with the same respect for onions, vinegar, and a low flame.
Advance Preparation
- •Peel the onions up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate them in a covered container.
- •The finished stifado can be cooked 1 day ahead; it deepens overnight and reheats well over low heat.
- •If using beef instead of rabbit, plan for 45 to 60 minutes more cooking time before the onions are fully tender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 450g)
Calories
515 calories
Total Fat
23 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
145 mg
Sodium
890 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
13 g
Protein
42 g
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