Local beef stew owes something to both American comfort food and the plate lunch tradition of putting everything over rice. It's simmered long and slow until the beef falls apart, thickened until it holds its shape on a spoon, and always, always served over two scoops of rice rather than with bread.
Every family's version is a little different — some add peas, some add celery, some skip the tomato entirely for a browner gravy — but the throughline is a long simmer and a thick, hearty result.
