Goulash, at least my version of goulash was one of my childhood favorites. Coming home from school to either mom or grandma having made a fresh pot was a feeling of happiness I don't think I could ever describe. My childhood goulash is what is know as "American Goulash, a pasta casserole of ground beef, macaroni noodles, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions. Seriously, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I have no experience with Eastern European food aside from frozen pierogis so seeing
Hungarian Goulash come up for Hungary on my recipe search, nostalgia hit my heart. Well, Hungarian Goulash is much different than the goulash of my childhood. Originating with ninth century shepherds, Hungarian Goulash is a hearty soup seasoned with Hungarian paprika. Even a millennia later, true Gulyás still stays true to its origins, with few changes being made.
Finding an authentic, true to tradition Hungarian Goulash or Gulyás was actually more difficult then expected. While a true recipe remains true to its origins, outside of Hungary many things that are labeled "goulash" are not a true Gulyás (even though they looked delicious, I made myself a promise to be authentic as much as possible). Whenever I thought I would find a good recipe, there would be a debate in the comments regarding it's authenticity so a big thank you to Carolyn and Taste Hungary for this recipe (https://tastehungary.com/journal/hungarian-gulyas-goulash-recipe/).
First thing I should have done was look at this recipe and then look at Harold's capacity. Harold was going to be far too small and I should have halved this recipe. Alas, I did not realize until halfway though, so my goulash was very onion and spice heavy, not that I complained. Even with only making about 3/4 of the recipe, we are going to have left overs for DAYS (mind you, I will have left overs for days). Ben tends to not eat beef as a personal choice, but will if the meal I chose on my cook nights calls for it, so I am trying to limit the amount of beef recipes used in this challenge.
I did enjoy making this dish and taking my first step into Eastern Europe's culinary wonders. Now I can say I know two styles of goulash.
