# Goulash. What's it to ya? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762 "2015-01-24T16:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/41 "2015-01-26T17:11:58Z")
A friend of mine used to make a really good goulash, though I can’t remember most of the details. All I remember for sure was beef, potatoes (which disintegrated in the cooking into thickener), and lots of paprika. I’m sure there were other vegetables involved too, but I don’t remember which ones. I think it was supposed to be a Hungarian version. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/42 "2015-01-26T18:34:49Z")
Well, if it had paprika in it, it probably was. ---
**Author:** ![May\_20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@May\_20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/May_20)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/43 "2015-01-26T18:44:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When I was a child, mom made ‘goulash’. This was ground beef, tomatoes, elbow macaroni, and spices (I’m guessing paprika). My mother made something similar to this. Because she used onion, garlic, and whatever pasta she had on hand, my father called it “ongarlimacaghetti”. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/44 "2015-01-26T19:45:25Z")
Goulash has been a staple meal my whole life. My mother’s father is from Hungary, so mom’s goulash was pretty authentic - beef cubes in a thick paprika-ish stew, with either some kind of pasta or nokedli. Mmm . . . The best goulash I ever had was when I was a kid. We were visiting a friend of mine and her family right outside Budapest - my friend and I made fresh nokedli from some kind of doughy bread, and her grandfather made the whole thing in a giant cauldron over a wood fire. It was seriously out of this world. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/45 "2015-01-26T19:59:03Z")
—Turnips in goulash? _Cat_astroph! —It’s good old Irish stew! I tell you it isn’t goulash! —[Paprika. That will fix it! Now it’s goulash!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWi_XgN-Mys) Just dump a canister of paprika into Irish stew, huh? It isn’t quite that simple. I learned to add the paprika to the onions and fat in the early stages. If you can find Szeged sweet paprika imported from Hungary, that’s what you really need for gulyásleves. The flavor difference it makes vs. American paprika is like night and day. I make vegetarian gulyásleves and pörkölt using tofu and, yes, olive oil. I figure you just can’t go wrong with olive oil, come what may. But if I wanted to replace lard with the most similar possible vegetarian equivalent, I’d use ghee. For gulyás I love to build it up with potatoes, carrots, red bells, a dash of red wine, a tomato or two, and a fistful of whole garlic cloves. Gulyás can be adapted to such elaboration. But the beauty of pörkölt is in its primitive simplicity. Just onions, paprika, browned cubes of meat (or tofu in my case), and water. My (Irish) mom made goulash sometimes, but she did it the right way, with potatoes and cubed meat. If she ever made ground beef with elbow macaroni, it was Hamburger Helper, not goulash. Although Mom’s goulash tbh _was_ essentially good old Irish stew with a little sprinkling of paprika (No turnips, though! Catastroph!). She served it over egg noodles. Ever since I left Cleveland for DC, I no longer have access to all the varieties of Eastern European dumplings (halushky being notably popular in Cleveland). So I serve it over my homemade pasta all’uovo. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/46 "2015-01-28T02:34:34Z")
Paprika… You’ve just used a spice called paprika… ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/47 "2015-01-28T03:21:05Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > This. And I never thought paprika had much of a flavor. Maybe I have only tasted crappy stuff. We just used it for color on potato salad, macaroni salad and deviled eggs to make them pretty. Now that I think of it, we probably had the same bottle of paprika all those years. The trick to a good goulash is a shed load of paprika, my mum used to put nearly a cups worth! She wasn’t hungarian but finnish and there seems to be a bit of a crossover not only in language but food. (well easter finland karelia) ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/48 "2015-01-28T05:52:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Mrs. J. sometimes makes a goulash-like dish for dinner. > > We call it “bowl o’meat”. We make the beefaroni version: elbows, ground beef, peppers, onions, celery and tomato soup. We call it “stuff” Never put paprika in it though. When my kids came home from college they called it goulash. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/49 "2015-01-28T15:43:06Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > The trick to a good goulash is a shed load of paprika, my mum used to put nearly a cups worth! She wasn’t hungarian but finnish and there seems to be a bit of a crossover not only in language but food. (well easter finland karelia) I’ve always liked paprika on potato salad and deviled eggs. My ancestry is mostly Irish. (My Mom saw me sprinkling paprika on my potato salad and asked me "are you Hungarian? " I said, “You tell ME!”) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/50 "2015-01-28T15:46:05Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > We make the beefaroni version: elbows, ground beef, peppers, onions, celery and tomato soup. We call it “stuff” Never put paprika in it though. When my kids came home from college they called it goulash. We had it when I was a kid. My Dad called it Hungarian goulash, which confused me, because of my older brother’s name–Gary. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/51 "2015-01-28T19:04:20Z")
I used to make mine with 1 lb hamburger, 2 cans of kidney beans, 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 1 can of corn, 1 whole diced onion, and small elbow macaroni. Salt, pepper and some butter. I have since replaced the hamburger with mild Italian sausage and will never go back to burger. It turns bland into better. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/52 "2015-01-28T19:39:42Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > I used to make mine with 1 lb hamburger, 2 cans of kidney beans, 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 1 can of corn, 1 whole diced onion, and small elbow macaroni. Salt, pepper and some butter. > > I have since replaced the hamburger with mild Italian sausage and will never go back to burger. It turns bland into better. We substituted sweet Italian sausage for hamburger, in spaghetti, for the same reason. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/53 "2015-01-28T19:49:56Z")
We had the burger/tomatoes/mac dish growing up, but we called it either “slumgullion” (if my mother was cooking or “American Chop Suey” (if my father was cooking.) Anyone else know it by either name? ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/54 "2015-01-28T22:47:54Z")
Yes, I remember my mom made a similar dish with ground beef and chili powder and onions - sometimes with scalloped pasta, sometimes with cubed potato - and called it slumgullion. It was delicious, especially the next day when the leftovers were spooned over a slice of buttered bread. Yum! Been over 35 years now since I’ve had any, and now that I have been reminded of it, I am craving it SO bad. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/55 "2015-01-28T23:59:10Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > The trick to a good goulash is a shed load of paprika, my mum used to put nearly a cups worth! She wasn’t hungarian but finnish and there seems to be a bit of a crossover not only in language but food. (well easter finland karelia) You really don’t need _that_ much (but feel to free to use as much as you’d like). A typical Hungarian recipe will have about 1 tablespoon of paprika for a pound or two of meat. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/56 "2015-01-29T01:34:20Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > To expound, essentially, in English, there are three dishes I think of as goulash. One is a fairly thick and relatively plain meat, onion, and paprika stew that is somewhat similar to Texas red chili and goes by the name of pörkölt in Hungarian. This is what most places have a version of when they have “Hungaian goulash” on the menu. It can be served with noodles/spaetzle, with potatoes on the side or even with rice. Second is the beefaroni-type dish. Third is what is sometimes called goulash soup in English, but as gulyas or gulyasleves in Hungarian. This is a soupier version of pörkölt and is cooked along with at least potatoes and onions. It may also contain carrot, parsnip, and/or celeriac. +1 George Lang’s Cuisine of Hungary is far and away the best cookbook of Hungarian/Transylvanian food. Used copies abound. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/57 "2015-01-29T17:03:14Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > +1 > > George Lang’s Cuisine of Hungary is far and away the best cookbook of Hungarian/Transylvanian food. > > Used copies abound. It is indeed one of the iconic Hungarian cookbooks. (I actually met George Lang and photographed him about fifteen years ago at the Gundel.) I use that cookbook as one of my references. I also like the standard Karoly Gundel cookbook, as well as Culinaria Hungary, although I believe that one is out of print and a little difficult to find sometimes. (Last year I tried ordering it for a friend from four different sellers that said they had it in stock, and only the last one did.) ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/58 "2015-01-29T22:26:30Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I’ve always liked paprika on potato salad and deviled eggs. My ancestry is mostly Irish. (My Mom saw me sprinkling paprika on my potato salad and asked me "are you Hungarian? " I said, “You tell ME!”) I just used some last night on my potato bake, really brought out the flavor. It is now my go to spice since my son can no longer have garlic or onion. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/59 "2015-01-30T06:11:01Z")
Again—if you can find imported Szeged paprika, which comes in varieties including sweet or hot—it makes a world of difference in flavor impact. Try it and you will feel you are truly tasting _paprika_ for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762/60 "2015-01-30T14:25:03Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Again—if you can find imported Szeged paprika, which comes in varieties including sweet or hot—it makes a world of difference in flavor impact. Try it and you will feel you are truly tasting _paprika_ for the first time. +1. The importance of using good paprika cannot be overstated. That “Pride of Szeged” brand is the one that is most common around here in grocery stores (besides the generic and imported paprikas.) It’s a good baseline paprika. Like I said above, if you have a Penzey’s or Spice House near you or if you mail order from them, both their Hungarian sweet paprika and California paprika are also excellent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goulash-whats-it-to-ya/710762.md?page=4)