Ionian Stifado (Στιφάδο) with Rabbit or Beef

Ionian stifado is the onion braise of the old Venetian-facing islands: rabbit when the market has it, beef when the pot needs to feed a family, and almost the same weight of small onions as meat. Cinnamon and clove sit quietly behind the tomato, red wine, and vinegar. The onions are not decoration. They are the dish.

The method that decides it comes after the onions go in. Don't stir. Hold the pot by its handles and shake it now and then, so the small onions stay whole while their sweetness moves into the sauce. A spoon breaks them, and then stifado becomes any red stew with onion pieces. That isn't this dish.

This is patient food, but it isn't difficult. Brown the meat well, build the sauce, settle the onions in, and let the low flame do the work. In my Thessaloniki kitchen I write it with both rabbit and beef because real Greek kitchens cook from the market first. Λίγα και καλά: good onions, good vinegar, good olive oil, and patience.