2018-01-29

Hungarian goulash is the most famous dish in the world, born in Hungary. And the most controversial too. The stew in tomato sauce, which many are accustomed to calling "goulash" has nothing to do with the dish, which is called Hungarian goulash.

Introductory remarks about the famous Hungarian goulash

Goulash recipes are no less than borscht recipes. And how many disputes arise in his homeland - in Hungary and here in Transcarpathia in the process of preparing this dish! I heard such furious disputes only about borscht recipes. Battles here are not for life, but for death.

But it's just a folk dish. And, like every dish born in the bowels of the people, goulash has an uncountable, astronomical number of cooking options! Let's not argue - we will cook.

Speaking about authenticity, I want to emphasize that Hungarian goulash must include meat (beef, pork, lamb), onions, paprika, fresh peppers, melted pork lard. Even potatoes are optional. There are recipes that don't include it.

All other vegetables (carrots, parsley root, celery, kohlrabi), spices (black pepper, cumin, and others), chipotle dumplings, mushrooms, beans, beans, wine, vodka, and a charred cherry tree felled on a full moon are additions only to the base.

Another important point. It is most “authentic” to cook food in a special pot called “bograch”. Hence another name for the dish "bograch - goulash", that is, goulash that is cooked in bograch. In Hungarian, it is more correct to say "guiash" (from the word gulyás, which means "shepherd"), and not goulash.

Invented (apparently) by the shepherds of the Hungarian area Alföld, a thick soup is prepared here in Transcarpathia and in Hungary for a large company that gathers in the yard of a private house or in nature. For us, bograch goulash is a process, not just a meal in the fresh air.

The hero of our today's story does not fall under the traditional classification of dishes. It is too thick for a soup, and for a second dish it has quite a lot of liquid. Here the first, and the second - "in one bowler hat."

Hungarian goulash - recipe with options

Hungarian goulash - a classic recipe with a photo

The classic is most often called the recipe for Hungarian beef goulash, given by the apologist for Hungarian restaurant cuisine Karoy Gundel in his gloriously famous "Small Hungarian Cookbook". I would call this option a restaurant. It is most suitable for cooking goulash at home in the kitchen in cast iron cookware at any time of the year.

Ingredients

• Kilo of boneless beef (shoulder, shank).
• One and a half tablespoons of pork lard (categorically it was him).
• Three onions (80-100 g each).
• Twenty grams of sweet Hungarian paprika varieties "különleges", "csemege", "édesnemes".
• A kilo of potatoes.
• Bone broth or warm water.
• Two fresh green peppers.
• One fleshy tomato.
• A couple of cloves of garlic.
• Caraway.
• Salt.
• Chipetka (dough product, as for homemade noodles).

How to cook

The classic Hungarian goulash is very tasty, but too "sleek" and "even". It lacks the rural "texture" that is achieved in folk cooking options due to the smoke of a fire, the addition of a variety of vegetables, smoked bacon or bacon, hot red capsicum and the soul of a large company.

After all, bograch - goulash is usually prepared by all participants of the event - from young to old, under the leadership of an extensive "neyni" (aunt) or a talkative "bacha" (uncle). This is how we smoothly move on to our family recipe for bograch in Hungarian or Transcarpathian.

Hungarian Goulash Soup - Our Family Recipe

Judging by the ingredients, our version is most similar to the Alfeld version of goulash - it contains a large amount of carrots, parsley root, celery, kohlrabi and no flour dumplings. If I'm wrong, then let the Hungarian cuisine experts correct me with arguments.

You will need:

• One single husband in good spirits or an honest company of children, grandchildren, relatives and friends.
• Arbor in the yard.
• The stove built by the husband.
• Bograch with a displacement of 10 liters.

Ingredients

• One and a half to two kilos of meat (pork, beef).
• Forty grams of smoked lard.
• 20-30 g of pork lard.
• Two tablespoons of paprika.
• Two fleshy bell peppers of any color.
• Four onions.
• Two impressive carrots.
• Two medium parsley roots.
• A small "ball" of celery.
• One medium kohlrabi.
• One and a half kilos of potatoes.
• Half a hot pepper.
• A glass of dry red wine.
• Big tasty tomato.
• Salt.

How to cook

The husband lights a fire in the stove, the firewood burns, crackles, the bograch (cauldron) heats up on the fire. Hungarian goulash is not just a dish cooked on a fire - it is a process that you need to feel and love!

All participants in the process clean and cut vegetables. Roots and kohlrabi - in small cubes, potatoes - in large cubes or slices. Small root crops can be cut into rings. Bulgarian pepper - stripes.

The meat is used in the form of large cubes with a side of 2.0-2.5 cm.

Melt the lard in the bograch. In it, fry small cubes of smoked lard until transparent. Now it's time to put the meat in the pot. Fry it, stirring, until a nice "fried" color. Take out into a separate bowl.

Send fry all the vegetables at once. Thoroughly mix the contents of the vessel from time to time. When the vegetables are well fried, remove the boiler, pour paprika from the heart.

Do not be afraid of its fiery scarlet color. Real good Hungarian paprika, which is used to make goulash, is never spicy.

We return the meat, pour a little hot water, a little salt. Simmer over low heat until meat is tender, adding water occasionally if needed.

Let's try the meat. Like? We add a little water, put fresh peppers, potatoes, hot peppers, cook until we start to like the taste and texture of the potatoes.

At this time, add water to the consistency we need - somewhat thicker than ordinary soup. Bring to a boil.

We peel and cut the tomato, throw it to an honest company, cook for a couple of minutes, pour the wine, try it, straighten it with salt.

We remove the bograch from the fire, we smell it and look forward to it. Let the food brew and calm down. Goulash soup is ready! You can chop some greens into it. Pour into plates, pour into glasses dry red wine from our own cellars. Life is good!

I am often asked what kind of meat is best used to cook real Hungarian goulash? I don't have a clear answer. At home, we most often cook from pork or young beef. Initially, Hungarian shepherds cooked it from beef. Then, with the development and popularity of pig breeding, the dish began to be cooked from pork.

Today I will round off. I look forward to your comments. If the article turned out to be useful to you, then please send it to your social networks. Subscribe to my blog updates - many interesting meetings are yet to come!

Always yours Irina.

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