Goulash

Goulash — gulyas in Hungarian — is a hearty stew of beef, onions and vegetables generously seasoned with sweet Hungarian paprika. Depending on the region and the cook it ranges from a thick stew to a brothier soup.

The paprika gives it its signature deep-red colour and gentle warmth, while long, slow cooking makes the beef meltingly tender. It is typically served with bread or small dumplings and remains one of the most recognisable dishes of Central Europe.

Goulash traces back to the gulyas — the cattle herdsmen of the Hungarian plains — who cooked seasoned meat in a bogracs, a cauldron slung over an open fire. The dish's very name means 'herdsman'.

Paprika, brought to Hungary through the Ottoman world, became central to the recipe by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and goulash grew into a symbol of Hungarian national identity. Countless variations are now cooked across Central Europe.