My very first blog post here on Kitchen Bliss (in 2015) was a pork goulash (gulyas) soup. It was the recipe used at Hamilton’s Black Forest Inn and I got it from a cooking class I took with the chef, who was the owner’s son. (Totally new ownership there now - have not yet revisited so I cannot report if anything has changed.)
I get daily newsletters from the wonderful Saveur and their team always impresses especially with East European recipes. I could not ignore this recipe and have already made it more than once - with a few tweaks.
This is a beef goulash which is technically more traditional since the origins of the dish are linked to the “cowboys” herding cattle. In Hungary, goulash is a soup - period. No debate. But with less water, it is like a stew. Enjoy it as you please. [Does the debate continue?]
I am part of a Hungarian Cooking Facebook group with over 36,000 members worldwide. Sharing is rich and debates can become animated. I asked about the meat component of this national dish and the consensus was that although it began with beef, it originated as a peasant dish and they would use any meat available - pork, lamb, chicken, duck, goose, goat - whatever. I’m not going to argue with 36,000 people.
One of KB’s taste testers is not fond of the sweetness from parsnip so I cut back on that and I added “little dumplings” (csipetke) - a sacrilege to not have these in goulash. I also use lard instead of oil. Lard is iconic in Hungarian cooking (available at Denninger’s). Fats (and that includes lard) are making a comeback - no longer frowned upon.
Ideally, serve this with the best hearty rye bread you can buy. Some people serve this with a wee dollop of sour cream.
Here's the Recipe!
Getting Ready:
prep the carrots (can be prepped day before)
prep the parsnips and potatoes (these will start to brown if prepped too soon; covering them with water helps prevent this)
Prep the peppers, if using (can be prepped ahead)
purchase lard if you prefer that to oil
fresh, good quality Hungarian paprika
purchase Gulyáskrém if possible (see Notes)
chop the onions
cube the meat
4 TB lard
2 yellow onions, chopped
Heat the lard in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. A tiny bit of caramelization doesn’t hurt - will add some depth to the flavour.
1.5 lb. (680 g) beef chuck or stewing beef, trimmed and cut into ½-inch cubes
Kosher salt and black pepper
My grocer often has a package of steak tips and that works well with this. Note my introductory remarks - you can try this with other meats - pork is a good alternative.
Increase the heat to high and add the meat, and some salt and pepper (you can adjust the seasoning at the end.) Cook uncovered until the meat is lightly browned - that’s going to add flavour. Stir it a few times - too much stirring interferes with the Maillard effect. This stage may take 6-10 minutes.
2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup (4 TB) sweet paprika
2-4 TB of Gulyáskrém (and see Notes below)
Add the marjoram, caraway and garlic and cook for a few minutes to let the spices bloom.
Pull the pot off the heat when adding the paprika since it can burn easily. Stir it in along with the Gulyáskrém.
2 medium carrots, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
1-2 medium parsnips, cut into ½-inch cubes (1/2 - 3/4 cup)
5 cups water
Add the carrots, parsnips and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes (until the meat is tender).
1.5 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup yellow Hungarian pepper cut into 1/4” bits (optional)
Add the potatoes (and pepper if using) and cook until they are tender - 15-25 minutes. (This is a good moment to prep the little dumplings.)
Once the potatoes are done, and with the soup at a gentle boil, drop bits of the dumpling mixture into the soup. These will cook quickly and will rise to the top when done.
Adjust salt/pepper seasoning as desired.
Notes and Tips...
Lard - use sunflower or canola oil if you prefer, but don’t blame me if the flavour suffers
Potatoes - the original recipe calls for medium new potatoes. New potatoes are wonderful but not always available. You can’t go wrong with Yukon Gold.
Gulyáskrém - the original recipe calls for 1 tomato. Tomatoes that taste good are rarely available and I’ve never heard of those peppers. To the rescue comes this special cream for goulash - it combines paprika and tomato. Perfect! Click here for details and a photo.
Italian Frying Pepper - I don’t always (rarely?) add this. The perfect pepper is a sweet Hungarian pepper that can only be found fresh, when in season at the end of summer. (Click here to see what they look like.) I substitute yellow pepper (and at the end of summer Hungarian peppers would also be available) or the Italian Frying Pepper - similar to Cubanelle - a sweet pepper; “Sweet Italian Long peppers. Unlike some peppers that are unpleasantly bitter and acrid when unripe, the Italian Frying peppers are sweet and delicious in all stages of ripeness, whether green, yellow or red.” Source
For KB Recipe Attribution Practices please click here.
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