Gulash

Its origin may be traced back as far as the 10th century, to stews eaten by Hungarian gulash. At that time, the cooked and flavored meat was dried with the help of the sun and packed into bags produced from sheep’s stomachs, needing only water to make it into a meal. In medieval times, the Hungarian herdsman of Central Europe made use of every possible part of the animal, as was common practice. As meat was scarce, nearly all of the animal was often used to make the soup.

From the Middle Ages until well into the 19th century, the Puszta was the home of enormous herds of cattle. They were driven, in their tens of thousands, to Europe’s biggest cattle markets in Moravia, Vienna, Nuremberg and Venice. These dishes can be made as soups rather than stews. Garlic, caraway seed, and wine are optional. Hungarian stews do not rely on flour or roux for thickening. Tomato is a modern addition, totally unknown in the original recipe and in the whole Central European food culture until the first half of the 20th century.

Goulash can be prepared from beef, veal, pork, or lamb. The Hungarian cook Karoly Gundel maintains that in a goulash recipe, meat should not be mixed with any grains or with potatoes. Omit the potatoes and add sauerkraut and sour cream. Substitute beef bones for the meat and add vegetables.

Omit the potatoes and the caraway seeds. Add sauerkraut instead of pasta and potatoes. Use smoked beef or smoked pork for meat. Use pork and thin vermicelli in the goulash instead of potato and soup pasta.

Paprikás krumpli” is a traditional paprika-based potato stew with diced potatoes, onion, ground paprika, and some bacon or sliced spicy sausage, like the smoked Debrecener, in lieu of beef. Thick stews similar to pörkölt and the original cattlemen stew are popular throughout almost all the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire, from Northeast Italy to the Carpathians. In Vienna, the former center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a special kind of goulash had been developed. Gulaš is often served with fuži, njoki, polenta or pasta. Green and red bell peppers and carrots are most commonly used.

Sometimes one or more other kinds of meat are added, e. In Czech and Slovak slang, the word guláš means “mishmash”, typically used as mít v tom guláš: to be disoriented or to lack understanding of something. Ethiopia, particularly during the numerous fasting seasons as required by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Südtirol, that once had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is eaten as a regular Sunday dish.

In the Netherlands, goulash is usually prepared with beef. It is typically consumed as a stew, and is thus closer to pörkölt. A variant dish exists that is similar to Hungarian pörkölt. It came to being around the 9th century. Vojvodina, where it was probably introduced by the province’s Hungarian population. It is actually a pörkölt-like stew, usually made with beef, veal or pork, but also with game meat like venison and boar.