Sassinak
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What is Stew?Just after I met Phil, I made stew one evening. He came in and said that smells good, what have you made? I said stew. When presented with a dish he asked why there were so many vegetables in it ???? Because it's stew I replied lol
Stew to Phil is what I would class as braised steak in onion gravy, served with potatoes.
Mine cannot be called broth because that must contain dried pulses and barley.
To me personally, mine cannot be soup because that is considerably thinner.
I make what was traditionally stew in Yorkshire, which is basically root vegetables and diced meat in gravy - a sort of thick soup or casserole. Is it purely a NE Scotland thing or am I the one out of step?
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wildgarlic
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Could be dust! 
My soup has been likened to stew because I like it thick and chunky 
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Smooth Hound
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to me stew is a slow cooked assortment of meat and veg, anything really, if i were to make a stew, i would put a cheap piece of tough meat chopped up a bit, with onions, potatoes, some herbs , slowly simmered for a couple of hours, so to tenderise the tough meat and turn it into a very chunky soup, but not as runny as soup
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Smooth Hound
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i could be wrong, but i would describe phils as a beef casserole type thing
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andybebbington
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my opinions is
Stew is cheep meat, spuds and mixed vegs eg carrots, onions,maybe neep and leek. and some pearl barley(optional)
if theres just meat and spuds (and maybe onions) its either stovies or hotpot depending on how its cooked but then our part of lancashire they put a suet crust on top of a hot pot
if its just meat and veg i would call it a casserole
no veg or spuds like phils version then its stewed steak or pie without pastry
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Sassinak
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Yes I agree, and I love suet crust on hotpot 
I would have called it Lancashire Hotpot or possibly Irish Stew, but traditionally they are both made with lamb 
When I was at collage in Fraserburgh I ordered 'stew' off the menu one day and that came as stewed beef with separate potatoes, so I'm thinking that it might be a North East thing?
We need some of the locals to reply
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Cassiepod
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Definately anything cooked for a long time (or stewed...) it could include only meat or only veg or anything in between to me, it covers the cooking method rather than the ingredients... although if you said beef stew and there was no meat then you'd have cause for complaint!
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IainC
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Yup, IMO Stew can be anything from Phils idea, right the way thru' to soup.
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kimmie
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Stew for me is large chunks of meat and veg...that have been "stewed" slowly over night in a thick gravy....and is completed with Dumplings!
and thats what my nan taught me....she also told me she was never wrong 
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Diana
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for me it's root veg and meat in juice/gravy/sauce - not as quite as much liquid as a soup cooked in a saucepan (if cooked in the oven it's a casserole - never understood that).
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Lemonysnicket
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For me its also chunks of veg and meat (or not) in a casserole pot in the oven.
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Fia
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To my local ex-Mother-in-law stew is meat and onion done on the stove.
To me it's any substantial thicker than soup concoction, usually vegetables and beans or meat, done on the stove.
I'm under the impression that a casserole is done in the oven and is therefore not a stew... but Le Cruset sell casserole dishes you can use on the stove... I dunno...
If someone's cooked it for you, eat it and be thankful would be my advice 
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Julie
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'Stew' is a description of the manner in which it is cooked and it can contain any meat veg combination that you prefer. It could be just veg if you wished although it wouldn't have as much flavour. If you wanted to be really posh, you could say 'braised' but it's no different than calling a tart Quiche.
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myra
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tomorrow I'm planning to cook meat and veg in a gravy or sauce in the slow cooker - but now I don't know what to call it! Always used to tell Jim we had stew for dinner but now I'm really confused!!
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Smooth Hound
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if its cooked slowly, then its a stew, thats what stew means,
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