Beef Stroganoff or Beef Stroganov (, ; russian: бефстро́ганов, befstróganov, ) is an originally
Russian dish of
sautéed pieces of
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
served in a sauce of mustard and
smetana (
sour cream
Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, ...
). From its origins in mid-19th-century Russia, it has become popular around the world, with considerable variation from the original recipe. Mushrooms are common in many variants.
History
The dish is named after one of the members of the influential
Stroganov family
The Stroganovs or Strogonovs (russian: link=no, Стро́гановы, Стро́гоновы), French spelling: Stroganoff, were a family of highly successful Russian merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. From the time of Ivan ...
.
[ []][Anne Volokh, Mavis Manus,''The Art of Russian Cuisine''. New York: Macmillan, 1983, p. 266, ] A legend attributes its invention to French chefs working for the family, but several researchers point out that the recipe is a refined version of older Russian dishes.
Elena Molokhovets's classic Russian cookbook ''
A Gift to Young Housewives'' gives the first known recipe for ''Govjadina po-strogonovski, s gorchitseju'', "Beef ''à la'' Stroganov, with mustard", in its 1871 edition.
[ '' A Gift to Young Housewives'', English translation: The first edition (1861) did not include Beef Stroganoff, which first appeared in the 1871 edition (Volokh, 1983), (Syutkin, 2015). The 1912 recipe mentioned by Toomre is in Alekandrova-Ignatieva, 1912, p. 611, but was also published in earlier editions.] The recipe involves beef ''cubes'' (not strips) prepared in a dry marinade of salt and allspice, and then sautéed in butter. The sauce is a simple
roux
Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cook ...
mixed with
prepared mustard and
broth
Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...
, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...
s, no
mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
s and no
alcohol.
In 1891, the French chef Charles Brière, who was working in Saint Petersburg, submitted a recipe for beef Stroganoff to a competition sponsored by the French magazine ''
L'Art culinaire''.
This led ''
Larousse Gastronomique
' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...
'' to assume that he was the inventor of this dish, but both the recipe and the name existed before then.
![Beef Stroganoff-01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Beef_Stroganoff-01.jpg)
Another recipe, this one from 1909, adds onions and
tomato sauce
Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...
, and serves it with crisp
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
straws, which are considered the traditional side dish for beef Stroganoff in Russia.
[ []] The version given in the 1938 ''
Larousse Gastronomique
' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...
'' includes beef ''strips'', and onions, with either mustard or tomato paste optional.
After the
fall
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
of
Tsarist Russia, the recipe was popularly served in the hotels and restaurants of
China before the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
[Frank Dorn, ''The Dorn Cookbook''. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1953, pp. 126–127] Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
immigrants, as well as US servicemen stationed in
pre-Communist China, brought several variants of the dish to the United States, which may account for its popularity during the 1950s. It came to Hong Kong in the late fifties, with Russian restaurants and hotels serving the dish with
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
but not sour cream.
In 1960s United States, several manufacturers introduced dehydrated beef stroganoff mixes, which were mixed with cooked beef and sour cream. It was also available freeze-dried for campers.
Around the world
Beef Stroganoff preparation varies significantly not only based on geography, but based on other factors as well, such as the cut of meat and seasonings selected. Meat for the dish can be cut in different ways and is sometimes diced, cubed, or cut into strips. Some variations include mushrooms and onions or other vegetables and varied seasonings such as sugar, salt, black pepper, and bottled
marinades
Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flav ...
(especially
Worcestershire sauce) and rubs.
![Beef Stroganoff on Pasta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Beef_Stroganoff_on_Pasta.jpg)
In the version often prepared in the United States today in restaurants and hotels, it consists of strips of beef filet with a mushroom, onion, and
sour cream
Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, ...
sauce, and is served over rice or noodles.
Today, the dish is generally served over wide or twisted
egg noodles in the United States. British pubs usually serve a version of the dish with a creamy white wine sauce, whereas more "authentic" versions are often red stews with a scoop of sour cream separately served on top.
![Beef Stroganoff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Beef_Stroganoff.jpg)
''
Larousse Gastronomique
' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...
'' lists Stroganoff as a cream,
paprika, veal stock and white wine recipe.
The Brazilian variant includes diced beef or strips of beef (usually ''
filet mignon
Filet mignon (; ; ) is a cut of meat taken from the smaller end of the tenderloin, or psoas major of a cow. In French, it mostly refers to cuts of pork tenderloin.
The tenderloin runs along both sides of the spine, and is usually butchered as ...
'') with tomato sauce, onions, mushrooms and heavy cream. Brazilians also prepare Stroganoff with chicken or even shrimp instead of beef. It is commonly served with a side of shoe-string potatoes and white rice. In Brazilian Portuguese it is called ''Strogonoff'' or ''Estrogonofe''.
Stroganoff is also popular in
Nordic countries. In Sweden, a common variant is ''korv Stroganoff'' (sausage Stroganoff;
sv), which uses the local
''falukorv'' sausage as a substitute for the beef. In Finland, the dish is called ''makkara-stroganoff'', makkara meaning any kind of sausage. Beef Stroganoff is, however, also a common dish. Diced
brined pickles are also a normal ingredient in Finnish Stroganoff.
Stroganoff's popularity extends to Japan, where it is most commonly served with white rice, or white rice seasoned with parsley and butter. Its popularity increased dramatically with the introduction of "instant sauce cubes" from
S&B Foods
is a Japanese company which manufactures, processes and distributes foodstuffs, spices and condiments, instant curries, and the manufacture and sale of cooked food. Their logo shows the S being the start of the word "Spice" and the B coming from ...
. These are cubes with dried seasoning and thickening agents that can be added to water, onion, beef, and mushrooms to make a Stroganoff-style sauce. Additionally, Japanese home recipes for Stroganoff frequently call for ingredients that are outside of Russian tradition, such as small amounts of soy sauce.
See also
*
List of beef dishes
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of foods named after people
This is a list of foods and dishes named after people.
A
* Poularde Adelina Patti – named for 19th-century opera singer Adelina Patti.
* Woodcock salmis Agnès Sorel – one of the dishes Agnès Sorel (1422–1450) is reputed to have ...
*
List of Russian dishes
Notes
External links
* Th
Food Timelinehas some quotes about the dish.
{{Beef
Russian cuisine
Soviet cuisine
Beef dishes
Meat stews