Goulash--Two Kinds?

American "goulash"

 

 

 

 

Gulyás, in a traditional cauldron.

 

 

 

 

What is goulash?  

Goulash, or gulyás, is a stew or soup that may contain vegetables and is spiced generally with paprika (introduced by the Ottoman Turks around the 15th century CE).  The original gulyás was made by herders in the 9th and 10th centuries and can be thought of as a Hungarian counterpart to the stews of American cowboys.  Nowadays such goulashes are often eaten poured over egg noodles.  I posted an article about the original goulash in 2014; you can read it here.

But there is an "American" goulash that started appearing in cookbooks around 1914. Wikipedia claims that "Originally a dish of seasoned beef, core ingredients of American goulash now usually include elbow macaroni, cubed steak, ground beef or 'hamburger,' and tomatoes in some form, whether canned whole, as tomato sauce, and/or tomato paste." It may even contain cheese.  I suspect that this kind of 'goulash' was heavily influenced by Italian-American cooking and owes very little to any traditional Hungarian recipes. Significantly, "American" goulash typically contains paprika in small amounts (i.e., less than a tablespoon) compared to Hungarian recipes, modern or otherwise. 

The following websites contain a bit more information about both types of goulash.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guly%C3%A1sleves

https://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsoups.html#goulash

https://www.besthungarianrecipes.com/hungarian-goulash

http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Goulash/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_goulash

https://www.tastingtable.com/972143/hungarian-vs-american-goulash-whats-the-difference/

Casserole

Cassoulet in a traditional pan. Wikimedia Commons.

 

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article called "The Eternal Comfort of the Casserole."  In the article, the author expresses the opinion that casseroles are around because they serve a purpose; they are emotionally sustaining when that is what people require.   The article may be read here.  It contains images of several casserole recipes ranging in dates from the 1930s to the 1970s, complete with dates and original sources, that may be of interest to those interested in mid-twentieth century American food.

 

I have never liked casseroles. Don't get me wrong; I'm not fanatical about counting fats, carbs, and calories, and I'm as fond of starchy, fatty comfort foods as the next person: pizza, meatloaf, shepherd's pie, beef stews.  What I don't enjoy are the layered starches stuck together with cheese and/or meat that to me spell "casserole".  Foods such as lasagnas, beef-and-macaroni dishes, and things like green bean casserole.  The type of green bean casserole (with or without the traditional crunchy onions) described in the article I find especially unappetizing.

Wikipedia pretty much agrees with the author's definition of casserole.  Wikipedia defines "casserole," at least as the term is understood in the United States, as "a baked food with three main components: pieces of meat (such as chicken or ground meat) or fish (such as tuna) or other protein (such as beans or tofu), various chopped or canned vegetables (such as green beans or peas), and a starchy binder (such as flour, potato, or pasta); sometimes, there is also a crunchy or cheesy topping."  

Other countries use the term "casserole" to describe dishes that are more like the stews I prefer.  Wikipedia says:  "In English-speaking Commonwealth countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, the term casserole is most commonly used to refer to a dish of meat or chicken with vegetables and a gravy-style sauce; dishes containing a large proportion of starchy ingredients, e.g. pasta or potatoes, or those cooked in creamy sauces are not generally referred to as casseroles, and might be called 'bakes' or 'gratins.'  The French term "cassoulet," which describes a bean stew with meat, may be the source of our term "casserole."  It is traditionally made in a ceramic pot of an unusual shape, unlike the slow cooker I use or the deep squarish pan used to make casseroles in the oven.  (A picture of the French-style cassoulet pan appears above.)

The article's author expresses the belief that the American-style casserole arose from the conjunction of two different elements:  the Scandinavian customs that arrived with the people who settled the American Midwest; and the economic scarcity that troubled mid-twentieth century America.   

"This is how the casserole worked its way onto our tables. A dish born of poverty and convenience. A dish both overly processed and perfectly delicious. Casserole is ubiquitous and to the haters, bland. (To which I say, add spice! Casseroles are what you make them.) But the point is a fair one. A casserole in its essence is a dish of comfort and a dish of hot, ready, cheap proteins and carbs." 

Though the types of recipe featured in the article are not tempting to me, the article is a good read about the conditions under which the modern "casserole" sprang.  I commend it to my readers' attention.

Not Just Noodles

A short article on newkarala.com tells the world about the latest Chinese archaeological discovery:  a pot containing remains of beef soup or beef stew.   The article, which is dated December 15, 2016, may be read here.  It makes for particularly interesting reading in light of the earlier archaeological discovery of a noodle bowl whose contents resemble modern lo mein or perhaps dandan noodles.

The pot's contents are known to have contained beef because beef bones are among what was found inside.  Archaeologists are studying the find, which came from ruins that are approximately 2,000 years old.   Unfortunately, though photographs of the item have been posted on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, there were none with this news article.

Finds like this are exciting because they help provide information that will eventually help us reconstruct the early history of cooking.  

Goulash

I started a new job in February, so I did not do much food-history-related research throughout March, let alone creative cooking. April threatens to be just as busy, so I wanted to post a quick update before I descend into a welter of tax preparation and bill paying. My husband has asked me to try making a Hungarian goulash, so I thought I'd do a little bit of looking into the history of that dish. This quote from The Food Timeline gives the gist of the history of goulash:

Gulyás  (Goulash) in a traditional bogrács (cauldron)

Food historians trace the genesis of Goulash (gulyas), a thick soup/stew, to 9th century Hungarian shepherds. In fact? the term "Gulyas" literally translates as "herdsmen." Soup played a key role in the early pastoral diet. Dried meats and vegetables were eminently portable and easily reconstuted. Over the years, Hungarian Goulash evolved from peasant fare to signature national dish. Interpretations, especially in the USA, range from somewhat authentic to amalgamated leftovers whose only claim to Hungary is a generous helping of paprika. It is interesting to note that paprika, the spice that has become almost synonymous with Hungary, was probably not introduced until the 16th century. By the 19th century it was perceived globally as THE key ingredient in Hungarian cuisine.

So goulash is a meat stew or soup, perhaps not too different from the stews of the Viking farmers which have long fascinated me. I expect to use a modern recipe with paprika and Worcestershire sauce, neither of which are period for those 9th and 10th century CE Hungarian shepherds (though Worcestershire sauce, being an arguable descendant of Roman garum, comes closer to being period), but I'm sure my spouse will appreciate the change after 6 weeks of alternating chili con carne with an ordinary beef stew. I recommend reading the rest of the Food Timeline's goulash entry; it emphasizes the absence of paprika from the original versions of the dish.

Our (Mostly) Viking Meal

Since it is snowing again, and the weather forecast is dire enough that a lot of evening events (including a meeting I was supposed to attend) have been cancelled, I figured it was a good night for me and my husband to try out my beef stew glop with barley (thanks again, Eulalia!) and the flatbread.

The stew, though simple, was surprisingly tasty, and met with the approval of my husband as well. It had no apple taste to speak of, but the apple bits were nice, and the leeks, beef chunks and barley played well together.

The flatbread was a bit trickier. I greased a skillet thoroughly with butter to fry them, but found it hard to tell when they were done. The first one (with cranberries, for my spouse) did get done properly, but mine was just a bit raw on the inside. The underdoneness didn't affect the taste much, however. The taste of the flatbread was pleasant but bland; slightly nutty, slightly chewy.

"It needs to be eaten with something," said my husband.

I thought so too, and thought that something sweet would be nice. So I rummaged around for preserves or spreads made from (period) fruit, and came up with a long-held but unopened jar of apple butter, which tasted very nice with the flatbread.

We also had a green salad with cranberries and walnuts, but that wasn't particularly Viking so I won't say anything more about it.

Overall, the meal was a success. Which is a good thing, because we still have a *lot* of flatbread balls left. The bread is so filling that we could only manage to eat one flatbread apiece.

Viking Flatbread--Preparation

As described in my last post, I let my experimental beef stew simmer for close to 12 hours before I packed it up for subsequent reheating. (I find that most crockpot recipes benefit from short-term storage and reheating, though I'm sure that in period it was more probable that stews simmered over a low fire until eaten.) The stew did not burn, though a few bits of meat and barley stuck to the walls of the crockpot at the very top, where the liquid didn't reach.

I deferred reheating and tasting the stew, however, until I had an opportunity to make up some Viking flatbread to go with it. Tonight, I made up the dough, since the Hurstwic recipe states that the dough can be refrigerated or frozen until use.

I used equal amounts of oat, rye, whole wheat, and barley flour. Unfortunately, I could only find reduced fat buttermilk (2%), and the Portuguese honey I had been using for all purposes ran out and had to be supplemented from a jar of tupelo honey (not terribly period, or even Old World, I'm afraid). I added walnuts, as specified in the recipe, and put cranberries in about 1/3 of the batch, to please my husband.

With only the buttermilk, egg, and honey for fluid, the dough was very sticky, as the recipe predicted, but was easy to shape into two to three-inch balls once I remembered to keep my hands flour-coated and to dust each ball with flour while shaping it. The recipe makes up about 10 to 12 balls, which I plan to grill and eat with the stew later this week.

The Experimental Beef Stew

The stew I've been planning as inspired by Eulalia's recipe is presently simmering, so now is a good time to blog about what I've done. I've made substantial changes, as you will see.

1 1/2 pounds of beef stew meat, in chunks;
1 cup smoked bacon, in smallish chunks;
1 medium-sized apple (I ended up with a Braeburn apple from the supermarket), cored and chopped;
1/3 cup pearled barley;
1 cup apple cider (i.e., cloudy apple juice);
4 leek stalks (white and light green parts), chopped moderately fine;
2-3 teaspoons of dill-spiked sea salt (the blend was specially-made by a vendor I know).

In a separate pot, bring the barley to a boil, then let it simmer in about 3 cups of water until it has at least doubled in size (about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours). Then place all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high heat for about an hour, then turn to low heat for another 9-11 hours until the meat is thoroughly cooked.

Eulalia's idea to cook the barley with the rest of the stew is probably a more period approach than mine. However, as her recipe suggests, it carries a greater risk of burning the stew. With my method the stew can be left for long periods untended. I resisted the temptation to add black pepper (which would not have been period) but dill is, at least for England, and so far as I know leeks are. I could have added mustard powder, but decided that would clash with the apple and apple juice.

Meanwhile, I have tracked down the ingredients for making the Hurtswic "Viking" flatbread! Since the dough can be refrigerated, I figure I'll mix the dough and try cooking some to go with this stew. The Hurstwic recipe does not specify which proportions to add of the oat, barley, wheat and rye flours; I figure I'll try equal proportions for the first batch. I'm also adding walnuts. My husband agitated for the addition of cranberries (he loves cranberries with walnuts in anything) so I'm making half the batch with cranberries even though this is pretty much non-period (I could use cherries, which are arguably period for Ireland, at least, but my husband likes cranberries more, and this isn't really meant to be a rigorous experiment).

My Next Experiment

I've been inspired by the following recipe from the Eulalia of Eulalia Hath a Blogge, another blogger with an interest in historic cuisine (Thanks, Eulalia, for permission to repost this):

3 oz beef stew meat (pasture-raised), in chunks
1/2 slice Trader Joe's uncured applewood smoked bacon, cut into bits
1 pippen apple, well past its prime, cored and chopped
1/4 cup pearled barley
1 cup homemade hard apple cider (very dry!)

Cook in a crock pot on high heat for 3 hours (or thereabouts) until everything is tender and all of the liquid is absorbed. Careful not to let it burn!

Now, I think Eulalia's recipe sounds very tasty. However, I seldom make any recipe exactly as it was written, and I'm not likely to do so with Eulalia's glop for several reasona. For example, I probably won't hunt down pasture-raised beef, but I likely will use more beef than in Eulalia's recipe (my husband and I are ardent carnivores). Nor am I going to Trader Joe's for bacon while a quarter cup of bacon chunks from our best local barbecue place is occupying space in my fridge. And if I use hard cider in this stew, my husband, a semi-militant teetotaler, probably will refuse to eat it. (Fortunately, good non-alcoholic apple cider is easy to get around here.) Nonetheless, I like the tenor of Eulalia's experiment, and expect to use it as a jumping-off place for experimentation of my own. Naturally, I'll report on how it comes out.