Stew from days gone by Casale style

The Italian word for stew, stufato takes it name from the woodburner (stufa) which was present in every peasant kitchen and apart from providing heat also doubled up as a cooking device. Furthermore, the word stufato implies meat cooked in wine. In certain parts of Piedmont the meat is cut into cubes (mainly near Alessandria and further south towards the border with Liguria) whilst in other area such as the Langhe hill region the meat remains uncut and is called brasato (braised) and near Tortona towards the border with Lombardy, this method of cooking the meat in its entirety is known as stracotto. The following recipe which dates back to the nineteenth century and is also known as “arrosto morto alla casalese” (dead roast Casale style). It is almost impossible to pinpoint the boundaries which separate roast, stewed, braised and stracotto meats from one another. A general but not infallible rule of thumb is as follows: roasts are cooked in the oven, braised meats are slowly cooked in juices, gravy or sauces and the meat remains uncut and is cooked whole, and stewed meat must be cut into cubes prior to cooking. However, surveys carried out throughout the region do not bear these definitions out.