goulash

The tradition & historical record

Goulash (Hungarian: Gulyás, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈgujaːʃlɛvɛʃ] ) is a meal made of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is a common meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but also in other parts of Europe. It is one of the national dishes of Hungary and a symbol of the country. Its origins may be traced back as far as the 10th century to stews eaten by Hungarian shepherds. At that time, the cooked and flavoured meat was sun-dried and packed into bags produced from sheep's stomachs, needing only water to make it into a meal. Earlier versions of goulash did not include paprika, as it was not introduced to Europe until the 16th century. ¹

The name originates from the Hungarian gulyás [ˈɡujaːʃ] . The word gulya means 'herd of cattle' in Hungarian, and gulyás means 'cattle herder' or 'cowboy'. Over time the dish became gulyáshús ('goulash meat') – a meat dish which was prepared by herdsmen. Today, gulyás refers both to the herdsmen, and the stew. From the Middle Ages until well into the 19th century, the Puszta was home to enormous herds of cattle sold at cattle markets in Moravia, Vienna, Nuremberg and Venice. The herdsmen used cows slaughtered along the way to market to prepare gulyáshús. ¹

In Hungarian cuisine, traditional gulyás, pörkölt, and paprikás are dishes which evolved from the food of the cattle herders of the Hungarian plains. In present-day Hungary, gulyás is known as a soup. It is also called gulyásleves, which translates to gulyás soup, although gulyás is understood commonly as a soup without specifying. While it may have more solid parts than broth and some versions may be called by English speakers a stew, the Hungarian language makes a strict distinction between stews and gulyás. The dish called gulyás is quite conservative with very little variations through the country. The basic ingredients include beef, onions, paprika, caraway seeds, potatoes, carrots and fresh noodles added directly to the soup (csipetke). Altered versions have their own name, like babgulyás which has beans or hamisgulyás ("fake goulash") which is meatless. Bográcsgulyás means a gulyás prepared traditionally in a kettle or cauldron, called bogrács, outdoors, over open fire. It can be prepared anywhere because it needs only the bogrács, an iron tripod, a chain and a campfire. Every type of gulyás is a strictly one-pot dish and considered a main course, even if it is a more soupy version. Except for paprikás, Hungarian stews do not rely on flour or roux for thickening. Original Hungarian recipes rarely use tomatoes and only in small quantities, the deep red colors come all from the authentic Hungarian paprika spice. Modern gulyás is made from beef, while the original herdsmen had more access to mutton (called birkagulyás). Typical cuts include the shank, shin, or shoulder; in Hungary beef from older cattle is more common, which takes longer to cook but is perceived by some diners as more tasty. ¹

Hungarian goulash variations include: ¹

Bográcsgulyás. Gulyásleves prepared in a kettle or cauldron, called bogrács. Székely Gulyás. Omit the potatoes and add sauerkraut and sour cream. Gulyás Hungarian Plain Style. Omit the homemade soup pasta (csipetke) and add vegetables Mock Gulyás. Substitute beef bones for the meat and add vegetables. Also called Hamisgulyás (fake goulash) Bean Gulyás. Omit the potatoes and the caraway seeds. Use kidney beans instead. Csángó Gulyás. Add sauerkraut instead of pasta and potatoes. Betyár Gulyás. Use smoked beef or smoked pork for meat. Likócsi Pork Gulyás. Use pork and thin vermicelli in the goulash instead of potato and soup pasta. Flavour with lemon juice. Mutton Gulyás or Birkagulyás. Made with mutton. Add red wine for flavour. A thicker and richer goulash, similar to a stew, originally made with three kinds of meat, is called Székely gulyás, named after the Hungarian writer, journalist and archivist József Székely (1825–1895). ¹

"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. In German-speaking countries, this inexpensive peasant stew is made with sausage and known as Kartoffelgulasch ("potato goulash"). Bell pepper is sometimes added. ¹

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. Like pörkölt, these stews are generally served with boiled or mashed potato, polenta, dumplings (e.g. nokedli, or galuska), spätzle or, alternatively, as a stand-alone dish with bread. Romani people have their own version of goulash. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Goulash”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

goulash is Hungarian dish, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 14 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²