Hungarian Cauldron Goulash (Bográcsgulyás)

Hungarian goulash with beef, paprika, potatoes, and tomato

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City/Region: Hungary

Time Period: Late 19th Century, written down in 1935

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The development and history of goulash mirrors the history of Hungary in a really interesting way, and the story goes something like this:

800s: A group of people from the Ural Mountains called the Magyars settled the area. Being herdsmen, they brought with them a dish of boiled meat or stew. 

1400s: The Hungarian king imported Italian ingredients, like onions, and hired Italian chefs to please his new wife, who was from Naples.

1500s: Hungary becomes part of the Ottoman Empire, and thus ingredients like coffee and paprika enter Hungarian cuisine.

1800s: Two brothers invent a machine to remove the seeds and ribs from hot peppers in order to make sweet paprika. 

This recipe from the late 19th century reflects all of these developments, with the meat, onions, and sweet paprika. It is so delicious and really easy to make. If you’ve never had real Hungarian goulash (which is a soup, not a thick stew), give this a try!

“Bográcsgulyás
1 kg (2 1/4 lb) beef
80 g (5 Tbs) lard
300 g (1 3/4 cups) onion
20 g (4 tsp) paprika
salt, caraway seeds, garlic
1 kg (2 1/4 lb) potato
140 g (1 cup) green pepper
60 g (1 small) fresh tomato
6 portions of soup paste (csipetke, Recipe 14)
Use meat rich in gelatine (shin-beef, blade or neck). Cube the meat into 1.5-2 cm (1/2-3/4 in) pieces. Fry the chopped onion in the melted lard (shortening) until it is golden yellow. Lower the heat, then add the paprika, stir it rapidly, add the meat, keep on stirring, add salt. When the meat is browned and all the liquid is evaporated, add the caraway seeds, finely chopped garlic and a small amount of cold water, cover, and braise the meat slowly. Stir it occasionally and add small quantities of cold water, cover, and braise the meat slowly. Stir it occasionally and add small quantities of water if necessary. The meat should be braised, not boiled. While the meat is cooking, cube the potatoes, green pepper and tomatoes into pieces 1 cm (1/3 in) in size and prepare the dough for the soup pasta (csipetke). Just before the meat is completely tender, reduce the pan juices, add the cubed potatoes, let them brown slightly, add the stock, green pepper and tomato. When the potato is almost cooked and the soup is ready to be served, add the pasta (csipetke), and adjust quantity by the addition of stock or water.”

— Károly Gundel, late 19th century

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Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons (80 g) lard
• 1 3/4 cups (300 g) diced onion
• 4 teaspoons (20 g) sweet paprika, more to taste
• 2 1/4 lbs (1 kg) beef, preferably something high in collagen like shank, short ribs, oxtail, or chuck, cut into about 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes, or smaller if you like
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/4 lb (1 kg) potatoes, I used russet
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 small tomato
• 1 quart (1 L) beef stock, more or less as needed
• Csipetke (pinched pasta), optional

Instructions:

1. Place a large pot over medium high heat and melt the lard. Add the onions and stir to make sure they’re all coated in the fat. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for about 30 minutes, or until they’re golden yellow and starting to brown, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. You want to cook these low and slow to really develop the flavors.
2. Take the pot off the heat and quickly stir in the paprika. It’s important to take it off the heat because the paprika can burn before it’s properly stirred in and will then turn bitter.
3. Once the paprika is stirred in, you can put it back over the heat and stir in the meat and the salt. You can raise the heat a little bit if you’d like, then stir occasionally while the meat browns and starts to release its juices. Cook it until most of the liquid has cooked off and what remains in the pot has thickened, about 30 minutes.
4. Stir in the caraway seeds and garlic. Add just enough cold water to go about halfway up the meat; you don’t want to cover the meat completely. Bring the pot to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it cook for at least 1 hour.
5. While the goulash cooks, peel and chop the potatoes into about 1/2 inch (1 cm) cubes, then chop the bell pepper and tomato into small pieces.
6. After 1 hour, or when the meat is nice and tender, add the chopped vegetables. Add just enough beef stock so that you can see it through the vegetables. Again, you don’t want to cover them completely. Turn the heat up to medium and bring it to a simmer, then reduce back to low, cover with the lid, and let it cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the potato is fully cooked.
7. Taste the goulash and add more salt or paprika as you like. Most modern recipes use much more paprika than this recipe, so add however much tastes good to you.
8. If you’d like to add the csipetke, which is a type of small pasta shaped by pinching off pieces of dough, you can add it now and cook for another 5 minutes or so until the pasta is cooked. If you’re not adding the csipetke, simply add enough water or beef stock to get the soupy consistency that you like. Heat it through, then serve it forth.

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