Beef Stroganoff

When it first appeared in the mid-19th-century Russia, beef Stroganoff was a dish made out of lightly floured beef cubes that have been sautéed and cooked in a simple sauce made from stock and mustard with only a small amount of sour cream. The origin of the dish is unclear, but it is most likely linked to a French chef—or a French-trained chef—working for the Stroganoff family. Although Russian in origin, the dish is strongly influenced by the French style of cooking—this is most obviously seen in the way the beef is cut, in either cubes or strips. The first known recipe appeared in Elena Molokhovets’s A Gift to Young Housewives, published in 1871. Since then, the dish has had major alterations. The beef is still cut in strips, but the sauce is much richer; with sliced mushrooms and onions that are cooked with beef stock and thickened a bit with sour cream that is only stirred in at the end. The dish is traditionally served with potato straws, but is often served with either rice pilav, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes.