Meaning
A classic Jamaican cooking method and dish in which meat or fish is browned and simmered in a rich, dark, savoury gravy of browning, onion, tomato, garlic, thyme, and scotch bonnet. 'Brown stew chicken' and 'brown stew fish' are Sunday-dinner favourites.
Examples
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Sunday dinner nuh complete widout brown stew chicken.
Sunday dinner isn't complete without brown stew chicken.
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Di brown stew gravy sweet ova rice an peas.
The brown stew gravy is delicious over rice and peas.
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She brown stew di fish till it soak up all di flavour.
She brown-stewed the fish until it soaked up all the flavour.
Origin
Named for its deep brown gravy, achieved by browning the meat and using 'browning' (burnt-sugar colouring) — a cornerstone technique of Jamaican home cooking.
How it’s used
Both a cooking method ('to brown stew') and the finished dish. A Jamaican culinary cornerstone.