A Cardassian meat stew that Keiko O'Brien prepares for the boy Rugal in the episode Cardassians, only to find that neither he nor her husband will touch it.
Zabu stew is a Cardassian dish seen in the Deep Space Nine episode Cardassians, set in 2370.
Rugal, a Cardassian war orphan brought up by Bajoran parents, is placed with the O'Brien family while Commander Sisko investigates his case. Hoping to make the boy feel at home, Keiko replicates zabu stew for dinner. Rugal, who has been raised to despise everything Cardassian, pushes the plate away, and Miles O'Brien, who fought the Cardassians at Setlik III, does exactly the same.
The two discover that they have a prejudice in common, which gives O'Brien cause to think about his own attitudes. The scene is a small domestic counterpart to the custody battle between Rugal's adoptive father and his natural father, Kotan Pa'Dar.