It is true that the Early Middle Ages, the ancient Magyars would place meat on the back of their horses. However, this wasn’t to tenderise it: they wanted to look after their horses, and a juicy steak beneath the saddle offered considerably more protection than a simple blanket.

No legend
Goulash’s appeal, however is anything but a myth. Experienced waiters explain to foreign visitors (with powerfully-rolled Rs and the emphasis always on the first syllable) that the dish known outside of Hungary as goulash, not only tastes far spicier in its home country, but it is also called something different: either pörkölt or paprikás ( pronounced „paprikarsh“) depending on the ingredients. Incidentally, paprikás is not so called because it contains paprika – all goulash-style dishes contain the spice. Paprikás is called paprikás, because it’s prepared with sour cream.

Gulyás = Cowboy
Keeping up so far? Goulash is known as gulyás in Hungarian (meaning „herdsman“, and pronounced guyarsh), and is a fiery-red meat soup with potatoes and vegetables – the soup of the herdsman, in fact. It wasn’t always red, though, as in 1000 A.D. the Magyars, like the rest of Europe, hadn’t even heard of paprika. The spice first arrived in the Carpathian Basin in the 16^th century, courtesy of the unloved Turkish occupying soldiers. Since then, the paprika has been „magyarised“ and is now found in every gulyás soup, pörkelt and paprikás, dishes that today can also be prepared with veal, lamb and chicken.

Soup oder pörkölt?
According to traditional recipes, cooking each of the meat casseroles begins by briefly frying the meat cubes in lard. The heat is then reduced, and finely chooped onions are stewed until transparent. At this point, you must decide whether you want to make gulyás soup, pörkölt or paprikás. If you opt for the soup, you will then need to add lots of water, as well as diced vegetables and fresh, fiery-red, sweet paprika powder. Pörkölt and paprikás both include salt and paprika powder, as well as green peppers and chopped tomatoes, which is all left to simmer in a little water. The major exception is tokány. Though this is also made with braised beef, it is seasoned with pepper. As such, the dish lacks the appealing red colouring and looks less traditionally Hungarian.

Variations
Ultimately, there are countless variations of goulash. Each Hungarian housewife has her own – inevitably the „real“ – recipe. Some people prepare pörkölt with tomato purée, while others use rosemary. Similary, some like to cook the dish with sauerkraut, caraway and crème fraîche, to create a variety of paprikás known as sekler goulash. There often isn’t any logic to it, but then rarely is in Hungarian cuisine: imagination and a zest for life are the most important influences.

Text: Peter Meleghy

The following recipe for Beef Pörkölt in red wine is available in our recipe database.