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Hungarian Goulash

Goulash is a genuine Hungarian speciality, and features on the menus of restaurants around the world. Of course, all these foreign goulashes bear traces of local cooking styles and indeed the chef's own creativity, so the following is guidance on creating an "authentic" goulash (which, to set the record straight, is a soup and not a stew). In Hungarian, the name of the dish is the same as that of the person who tends the cattle herds, both being gulyás. Thus the goulash has made the move from Hungarian herdsman's provision originally cooked in a cauldron over an open fire to popular one-course meal consumed around the world. (And by the way, today it is not considered sacrilege to make a pork goulash, nor to prepare it in a well-equipped kitchen instead of under the open sky!)

Shepherds are actually famed for several different dishes, of which the following is a short description of two of the most famous, Hungarian stew (pörkölt) and goulash. Meat stews are a very traditional Hungarian dish. They can be conjured up out of virtually any meat: pork, beef, veal, lamb, venison or even poultry. From this it is evident that the term Hungarian stew refers not to the ingredients but rather to the method of cooking i.e. stewing. In other words, all the different types of stew are basically cooked in the same way.

Firstly, fry diced onions in fat or oil. When the onion has glazed, sprinkle over ground red paprika, stirring all the while. Warning: paprika can easily burn and become bitter, so it is best to remove the pot from the heat while adding the spice! These two simple but superb ingredients form the basis for the stew. Add the cubed meat and while stirring the meat will begin to fry, releasing its natural juices. The meat should thus be cooked in its own juices for a while, and other ingredients can go into the pot according to taste: pepper, fresh tomatoes and green paprika. Once the juice has virtually evaporated, a small amount of water or dry wine – red or white depending on the meat – is added.

The liquid must never cover the meat; instead, it can be topped up in the course of cooking. This avoids watering down the stew and preserves all the flavours of the meat. Although memorable stews can be cooked at home, the real thing only ever comes out of a cauldron cooked over an open fire. In short, making Hungarian stew is not complicated but it still requires considerable attention.

Like many other Hungarian dishes, goulash too is based on onion sautéed in fat or oil. Once the onion softens, tip in the meat chopped into small cubes and sprinkle liberally with red paprika and a little water. Add salt and pepper, a little cumin according to taste, but ground spice paprika is a must. Keep topping up with water as it evaporates. When the meat is half cooked it is time to add the vegetables, but not too many: carrots, parsnips, sliced tomatoes, green peppers and a few cloves of crushed garlic. Add more water and then, towards the end of the cooking, potatoes cut into cubes. The proportion of ingredients is very much a personal choice, but as a general rule of thumb one should have twice the quantity of potatoes to meat.