The goulash is, together with the dobos torta, the most famous dish of Hungarian cuisine: a rich meat soup with vegetables (potatoes, carrots and onions) flavored with paprika 😀 . To be precise this dish is so important for Hungary to be one of the national dishes and a simbol for the entire nation!
Goulash has a very ancient origin, it was already prepared in 9th century. But the real feature that is often forgotten is that this is not a mere stew flavored with paprika. No sir. Goulash, as dish from poor peasant tradition, has a very moderate amount of meat… A bit different from what we are used to here in Italy with what call “Spezzatino”, or even with the “Wine Carbonada” of the Northern Regions. In the goulash, the meat becomes an ingredient designed to flavor the soup that is very liquid. However, we would like to point out that the recipe we’re presenting today is very different from the original medieval one, because for obvious reasons many of the main ingredients had not arrived to Europe yet. Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and paprika too (as sweetpeppers dried and smoked) were completely unknown… And who knows, then, what was the version of the Magyars herdsmen of about a thousand years ago! Today, as you will understand, the dish has been enriched, and in many restaurants of Hungary when you ask for goulash they ask you if you prefer the stew (goulash meat) or the soup (goulash soup actually). As always, we tried to be as close as possible to the peasant tradition, but giving to it our personal touch. Try it and let us know! 🙂
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Goulash: Hungarian meat soup
Ingredients
- 1 kg of stew
- 4 carrots
- 2 potatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 2 peppers
- 400 ml of tomato sauce
- 2 l of broth
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- salt
- black pepper
- 3 cloves
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
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Finely dice the onions and garlic and fry them with the meat until golden brown.
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Add the spices (black pepper, paprika, cloves and bay leaves) and salt.
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Cut the carrots, potatoes and peppers into pieces, add them to the meat.
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Pour now the tomato sauce and the broth, bring almost to a boil then reduce the heat, continue cooking for a few hours until the meat is tender.