Tasting History with Max Miller
Published 25 Mar 2025
Hungarian goulash with beef, paprika, potatoes, and tomato
City/Region: Hungary
Time Period: Late 19th Century, written down in 1935
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
(more…)
