Gulyás means herdsman, and the dish began as the meal those cattle drivers cooked in a kettle over open fires on the Great Hungarian Plain. In Hungary, goulash is a soup rather than a thick stew: tender beef, potatoes and root vegetables in a broth colored deep red by paprika, finished with tiny noodles pinched straight into the pot. The thick, saucy dish most of the world calls goulash is closer to what Hungarians call pörkölt.

It is the obvious first plate for a weekend at the Hungaroring. It travels well in a big pot, waits patiently on a low flame through qualifying, and tastes better on the second day, which is more than can be said for most strategy calls.

The goulash

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) boneless beef chuck or shin
• 2 tablespoons lard or sunflower oil
• 2 large yellow onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 cups (2 liters) water or low sodium beef stock
• 1 medium ripe tomato
• 1 Hungarian wax pepper
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 medium parsnip
• 1 lb (450 g) waxy potatoes such as Yukon Gold
• 1/4 teaspoon hot paprika

Method

1. Put the garlic, caraway seeds and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt on the cutting board. Chop them together, then press and smear the pile with the flat side of the knife, scraping it back together and smearing again for about a minute.
2. Set the pot over medium heat and add the lard or oil. When it shimmers, add the onions and cook, stirring every minute or so, for 10 to 12 minutes. Lower the heat if they start to brown at the edges.
3. Turn the heat up to medium high, add the beef and the garlic paste, and stir. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the meat has lost its raw red color on every side. It will release juice at first; keep going until most of that juice has bubbled away.
4. Lift the pot off the stove and set it on a cool burner or a trivet. Sprinkle in the sweet paprika and black pepper and stir for 30 seconds so every piece of meat turns red. Paprika burns quickly and turns bitter, which is why the pot comes off the heat first.
5. Pour in 2 cups (480 ml) of the hot water or stock, add the tomato, the wax pepper and 1 teaspoon of the salt, and return the pot to the stove. Bring it to a gentle bubble, then lower the heat until only a few small bubbles break the surface. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes and adding a splash more water if the liquid drops below the meat.
6. Add the carrots, parsnip, potatoes, the remaining 6 cups (1.5 liters) of hot water or stock and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring back to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Taste the broth with a clean spoon. Add salt a pinch at a time until the flavor is rounded rather than flat. Stir in the hot paprika now if you like some heat.

The pinched noodles (csipetke)

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup (85 g) all purpose flour
• 1 pinch fine salt

Method

1. Put the flour and salt in the small bowl, crack in the egg and mix with a fork, then knead with your hand for 2 to 3 minutes. If it sticks to your fingers, work in a teaspoon more flour. Cover the bowl and leave it while the soup cooks.
2. During the last 8 minutes of cooking, flatten the dough between floured palms to about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Pinch off pieces the size of a small fingernail and drop them straight into the simmering soup. Stir once so they do not clump, and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.

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