Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff, also spelled beef Stroganov, is a Russian dish of sauteed pieces of beef in a sauce of mustard and smetana, a heavy sour cream, named after a member of the noble Stroganov family, though it remains disputed whether the honor belongs to diplomat Pavel Stroganov or politician Alexander Stroganov. The earliest documented recipe appeared in Elena Molokhovets's 1871 cookbook, cutting the beef into cubes and omitting the mushrooms and onions common in later versions, predating a 1891 competition entry by French chef Charles Briere that some later mistakenly credited as the dish's origin. In modern preparation the beef, often cut into strips, is sauteed in butter, then finished in a sauce of roux, prepared mustard and broth enriched with sour cream, frequently with added mushrooms and onions. Since the nineteenth century the dish has spread worldwide, acquiring considerable variation from its original form.