The creamy beef dish supposedly takes its name from Count Pavel Stroganov, a 19th-century Russian statesman and military leader who commanded a division in the Napoleonic Wars. Stroganov's family was one of Russia's most wealthy and influential, so he certainly had the clout to get a namesake dish. It's not totally clear, though, at what point the dish sprang into existence. Some sources credit an 1890 culinary competition—which seems unlikely because Count Pavel was long dead at that point—but the beef dish is mentioned in written records at least as far back as the 1860s.

400 gr - beef (tenderloin or the longest muscle of the back)

2 - onions

150-200 gr. - sour cream

50 gr. Butter

3 tablespoons - vegetable oil

1 tbsp. - flour

1-2 tbsp. - tomato sauce

Meat cut into long slices and fry in butter.

Put onion in a skillet with butter, add sour cream, flour and tomato sauce. We stir until the mass of the sauce becomes uniform. If necessary, add water.

Mix the meat and sauce and add greens.