Hungarian cuisine is sharp, almost like Mexican, so goulash in its traditional performance can enjoy people with healthy stomachs.
Hungary – the country by Russian standards is small, with a population of about 10 million people (in Moscow a little more). However, as Kara Gundel wrote, the famous Hungarian restaurateur, a classic of Hungarian cuisine, “thanks to the favorable climate, relief and good soil, the Hungarian land will give birth to everything a person can wish. ”
In addition to the wishes of the material, Hungary has satisfied both cultural and scientific. Composers Franz Liszt and Imre Kalman, mathematician Janos Boyai is one of the pioneers of non-Euclidean geometry, the poet Shandor Petofi, who for the Hungarians means no less than Pushkin for us. By the way, the world famous Rubik’s cube was also invented by the Hungarian – Erna Rubik.
In addition to hot peppers, Hungarians like to put sweet peppers in their dishes, as well as onions (necessarily fried! ) And tomatoes. By the way, paprika (sweet pepper), it would seem, is an obligatory attribute of Hungarian cuisine, appeared not so long ago – about 200 years ago. In Europe, paprika was brought at the end of the XV century by Christopher Columbus (he in general brought a lot of delicious), after which the Turks began to grow it for their own consumption, they had Hungarians and learned to flavor their dishes with red sharp powder.
Hungarian dishes are rich, and this is not surprising: pork is used most often, leaving behind lean beef and dietary poultry. And all this fat abundance is abundantly watered with sour cream – this is another feature of Hungarian cuisine: sour cream is added to soups, sauces, vegetable and meat dishes. “As for modern Hungarian cuisine,” wrote Kara Gundel, “its characteristic feature consists in the abundance of fat (predominantly pig fat), onion and red paprika (red pepper), as well as in sour cream, which has recently been replaced in many restaurants cream “. Meat soup goulash can be called without exaggeration the face of Hungarian cuisine.
Goulash is a soup, a soup for a tired, hard-working man – thick, sharp and satisfying enough that you can safely serve a glass of wine, or even something stronger.
The very word “gulyas” (correctly pronounced “guyash”) means “shepherd“. It was this soup that the Magyar shepherds cooked in special bowlers on open fire and under the open sky. The aroma of spices, mixing with the aroma of the air, creates a harmony of taste and gives bliss to anyone who tastes the cooked dish. It is not surprising that the recipe broke up, and the dish spread outside the country. Hungarian housewives are very proud of the goulash and assure that this dish cures many diseases and relieves stress.
“Abroad, all the dishes, strongly seasoned with paprika, were called habitable” goulash “, Kara Gundel was upset. “However, under this name a foreigner usually means something completely different. ”I would not like to offend my foreign colleagues, but still I have to note that they tend to only discredit this noble dish. ”In order not to upset the Hungarians and please the Siberians, I will bring the recipe of Karoja Gundel from his book “Hungarian Cuisine”.
For goulash soup you will need:
- 600 g of beef (brisket or scapula)
- 25 g of salt
- 200 g of finely chopped onions
- 600 g of diced potatoes
- 8 g of sweet red pepper
- 1 fresh tomato
In a saucepan, heat some fat, put a crumbled onion there and, vigorously stirring, fry until it turns golden-rosy. Then in a saucepan, put the meat, washed and cut into small pieces, sprinkled with salt and red paprika, and lightly fry for a few minutes on low heat, after which gradually pour 0. 5 liters of water. When the meat is almost cooked, put into the pot the diced potatoes, add more water and tomato and cook until ready.
Before serving, gum pieces are cooked separately, a so-called “chiplet” (from the verb “chipcadni” – to pinch) – plucked away by hand shapeless pieces of homemade dough, similar to dumplings. Soup from them becomes even thicker and tastier.
For a chip you will need:
- 200 g flour
- 1 egg
- pinch salt.
Knead the steep dough, roll it into a sheet 1 mm thick, then pinch off small shapeless pieces 4 mm in size and drop into boiling water. After 3-4 minutes, when the chipper is ready, they will float up like banal dumplings.
