There are many reasons to make goulash. For Papa, it’s a delicious reminder of the country and culture he grew up in. For the kids — well, they just think it’s yummy and fun to say. For me, goulash has a special place in my heart — and stomach. Making this hearty, medieval dish truly connects a cook to those who have stirred, simmered and boiled before us.
In Hungarian, “goulash” or “gulyás” means “herdsman,” a nod to the field workers who were making this simple stew each day as long ago as the 9th century, according to The Art of Hungarian Cooking (1954). In its early forms, goulash was a dried stew of meat, onions and spices that was packed in a sheep’s stomach and taken out to the fields to be re-boiled with a little water at mealtime. Over the past thousand years, thankfully, much has changed.
When my father was growing up in the communist Budapest of the 1940s and 50s, goulash was certainly no peasant’s meal. My dad, who at 13 would make a brave escape out of Hungary during the Revolution of 1956, tells of sitting down with his grandmother to simple meals of homemade bread fried in lard — his only protein source. Eating something as extravagant as a stew with real meat was out of the question.
Last June, we changed a little food history when the entire brood of kids and grandkids returned to Budapest with their Papa for what we hope will become a regular family trip. At the International Hungarian Cooking School, in a class conducted in a mix of Hungarian, broken English and something else I think, my dad and I fumbled our way through three hours of instruction to emerge with two steaming pots of goulash.
I cook a lot, but I’ve rarely felt so proud of something I made, proud to be sharing in this rich culinary heritage with my father— and proud that he could finally partake of it too.
So, here, friends, is a slight variation on the recipe I picked up in Hungary. We realize there are some different ingredients but if you want to be authentic, follow along. You may serve it hot with (nokedli) noodles (pinched or plain), dark bread and strong coffee to boot.
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Ingredients
1-1/2 lbs stew meat (chuck roast or rib eye), cut into bite size pieces
2 small yellow onions
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 bottle (32 ounces) sparkling mineral water
salt, pepper to taste
pinch of caraway seeds
3 Tbsp paprika (more to taste)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1/4 celery root, diced
1 potato, chopped
1 banana pepper (or a mild, yellow pepper—not sweet!), diced
1 tomato, chopped
Directions
- Chop onion and fry in oil in a pot or dutch oven with a pinch of salt until clear.
- Add celery root, parsnip and carrots. Sautée 15 minutes.
- Add diced meat and flavor with the paprika, several pinches of salt and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes.
- Add mineral water.
- Add garlic and caraway seeds and place diced pepper and tomato on top. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Add diced potato and simmer until cooked through. 15-20 min. Taste for salt and paprika, adding if needed. Meat and potatoes should be tender.
- Serve immediately with rustic bread for dipping.
TIME: 2 1/2 HOURS. YIELDS 4-6 SERVINGS.
(Originally published March 19, 2019)
This was wonderful! Just like I remember it.