Beef Stroganoff is one of those simplistic dishes that on the surface seems like it should be pretty good. Really, there are a lot of pretty good beef stroganoffs out there. But today, we’re not going to talk about how to make a pretty good stroganoff, are we? Of course not! Instead, we are going to take a look at where the dish comes from, what exactly it is, and how we can make the best damn beef stroganoff anyone has ever tasted.
You ready? Good. Let’s get to it.
Beef Stroganoff
Even if you don’t actually know where beef stroganoff comes from I bet you could guess. Just imagine you are a villain from a 1980s action movie and say “Beef Stroganoff” in the first accent that comes to mind. That’s right, it from Russia.
The first written recipe for stroganoff comes from a classic Russian cookbook called A Gift To Young Housewives by Elena Molokhovets in 1871. The original version of the recipe included lightly floured beef cubes as opposed to the stirps that we most often see in recipes today. The beef cubes were sautéed and served with a sauce of mustard and beef stock. This was finished with a bit of sour cream. Some other early recipes for the dish may contain a bit of tomato paste rather than sour cream.
The original version of beef stroganoff lacked three things that we considered common or even definitive ingredients in the dish. They are mushrooms, onions, and red wine.
In the 1938 version of Larousse Gartronomiqe which is essentially a culinary encyclopedia listed stroganoff served with crispy potato straws as was the traditional side dish in Russia. Today, stroganoff is most commonly served with egg noodles or rice. Rice is common because of its popularity of the dish in China. This popularity comes from the close relationship between Russia and China starting in 1917 after the Russian Revolution.
Today, beef stroganoff is thin strips of beef sautéed with mushrooms and onions and served in a sauce of red wine, beef stock, dijon mustard, and sour cream. This can all be served over rice, egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crispy potato straws as is the tradition. Fresh herbs are also commonly used to flavour the dish.
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