Stifatho (also spelled stifado) dishes are stews, and they are easy to recognize: they include onions - a lot of onions. The most commonly used are whole small boiler or pearl onions, but larger onions can be used as well, and the quantity is often equal in weight to the main ingredient.
Stifatho dishes can be made with meat, poultry, seafood, game, or another vegetable as the central ingredient, with onions, wine or vinegar, tomato, and a selection of spices (often including cinnamon) creating a flavorful base. Generally made on the stovetop, there are a few stifatho variations that can be made in the oven.
The word "stifado" comes from the word "stufado," brought to Greece by the Venetians in the 13th century, after the fall of Constantinople (1204) and before the Ottoman invasion. Older versions do not include tomato, which didn't appear in Greece until after the discovery of the Americas. They may have also incorporated fruits, nuts, and a wider variety of vegetables than we include today.