All the recipes I have seen for stifado have called for small, whole onions. This one did too, until I got my hands on it. When I first made it, I couldn't get small onions, and so I substituted regular cooking onions. When I was finally able to make it with the tiny onions, I was a little disappointed - I love the way the onion bits cook almost to a sauce, and are so sweet and mild. The smell of this stew is just amazing, and the flavour lives up to the promise of the aroma.