This recipe comes from Szabadtűzön, a collection of recipes from the Upper-Tisza region, which was put together by Béla Makay. All of the recipes are from local home cooks. The actual recipe was contributed by Ferenc Botos, who recounted it in the past tense, as a memory of how he prepared his gulyás. If you don’t have a bogrács (cauldron), the soup can be made in a soup pot on the stove.
Ingredients:
1-1.5 kilograms beef
50-70 grams smoked szalonna (bacon)
Half an onion
Pinch of paprika
Small bunch of parsley
A few caraway seeds
500-600 grams potatoes
Salt
Method:
I put a little szalonna in the bogrács (cauldron) and added some finely chopped onions. I cooked them and then sprinkled a little paprika over them. I poured enough water over it for three or four people. Before I started cooking the meat, I sent my son up to the tanya (farm house) for some parsley and caraway seeds, because both are necessary. First I added the diced meat to the cauldron, and then the ingredients that my son brought. While my son was taking care of the fire, I peeled and diced the potato. If there was just a little meat, I used more potatoes. If there was a lot of meat, I used less. I added the potatoes when the meat started to soften, this way they were ready at the same time. When it was done, I tasted the soup to see how much salt it needed.
When I was travelling in central Europe recently, including Hungary, four times I requested “goulash” soup in restaurants. Every time, it was basically TOMATO soup, though with additions. I am surprised to find no tomato in this recipe. Or is this a regional variation? Would tomato be found in “goulash” soup in other regions than upper Tisza?
I just asked my wife: No tomatoes in the soup! You can add some carrots, garlic (only if you really like it) and parsley roots – but the soup should be relatively “clear”, not too thick.
What’s missing in the recipe above is some Piros Arany (paprika paste) which is added to most Hungarian dishes.
Be careful however when using the paprika paste – it contains a lot of salt, so only add salt at the end, after you’ve tasted the soup …
WOW, nowhere in Hungary have I EVER heard of anyone putting tomato paste or tomato in any anykind of gulyas. I would think any Magyar doing that would be kicked out of the country and sent to Italy as a trator
Cor,
as a matter of fact we do. I slice up 1 tomato and 1 green (banana) pepper about 20 minutes before the soup is done. I learned it from my mother and aunt who learned it from my grandmother.
Sorry to add one more comment. In response to Val, I am from NorthEast Hungary, you can call that upper-Tisza region…so perheps it is something that is a regional feature. However anyone who would serve tomato soup as goulash would be way off the recipe. I did eat that here in the US one time and I just had to let the kitchen know what a collossal mistake they made! I make the soup pretty much the same way as above, but I add sliced carrots and parsnips to the stew and sautee that for a few minutes before I fill it up with water.
Hi Val,
Throughout the world (unless you are in an authentic Hungarian restaurant) gulyás has been bastardised with many non-traditional ingredients. Anything and everything has been added to it, (and left out). In German restaurants, it’s usually served as a brown stew, sans paprika and caraway seed. Most non-Hungarian restaurants serve it as a beef stew on a plate, rather than as a soup.
About the recipe above, I tend to and a whole lot more than a “pinch” of paprika. I add a LOT! It’s not like salt or hot pepper where you can add too much. Sweet paprika is rich in vitamin C; the more you add, the richer the soup is in vitamin. Also, “half” an oinion sounds timid to me; I like to add two or three.
Traditionally, the meat and onion would be sauteed first in lard, no longer a very popular ingredient with cooks. I like to substitute oil.
@Farkas Laszlo (from one farkas to the other …),
Your advice on this dish is really good – we’ve just brought several kilos of paprika powder (made by my wife’s brother in law) to Germany and we’re telling everybody to use it to thicken stews, soups etc – it really gives a marvellous taste to all dishes …
PS: Good to see you here!
Hi Wolfi,
You are most kind!
Gulyás has a long a varied history. A Hungarian cookbook from 1860, published by a noblewoman, has almost 30 regional variants listed!
When I want to make it to the highest personal standard, I use aged grass fed beef (the highest and most expensive grade). My dad also liked to add baby back beef ribs for richer flavor. I marinate the beef overnight in dry red wine and salt. (Dry white wine can also be used) Never use sweet wine as that can impart a slightly sour taste to the end product. Wine helps to soften the texture of the beef, helps the salt to penetrate and imparts a great taste.
Dad was a gardener and insisted on using “new potatoes” (újkrumpli), as he felt they taste the best. The old world Hungarians were very particular about the age of the potatoes in the ground and when they were harvested. He also liked to add fresh “szegfűgomba” (fairy ring mushroom, Marasmius Oreades), which he would pick himself. (He never used dry mushrooms.) My mom did not skimp on onions, nor caraway seed. It’s hard to overdo it with the caraway seed, as using too much does not spoil the dish, but rather makes the soup richer.
It’s great that you have a production source for paprika! Quality and flavor of paprika varies, but the good stuff tends to smell better. It’s better when it’s fresh processed. Paprika bought in stores may have sat on the shelf for a long time. My gulyás has so much of it that the soup is a bright flaming red in color!