Traditional Hungarian goulash – "Gulyás"

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 600 g beef (soup meat)
• 400 g beef leg slice(s)
• 800 g onion(s)
• 50 g celery
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 bell pepper(s)
• 1 can of tomatoes, 800 g each
• 100 ml red wine, dry, to taste
• 500 ml beef stock or beef broth, or more if you want a soup
• 2 tbsp mustard, e.g. Bauzner
• 4 tbsp paprika powder, sweet
• 2 tbsp, heaped paprika powder, hot
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp marjoram
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 3 tbsp goose fat, if necessary 3 slices of bacon

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 45 minutes

Wash the meat, pat dry, and cut into 3 cm cubes. The cubes should all be the same size, if possible. Rinse the leg pieces thoroughly under running water to prevent bone fragments from getting into the goulash. Peel the onion. Peel and dice the celery. Peel and dice the garlic. Wash, deseed, and slice the bell pepper. Roughly dice the onions. They will dissolve completely and bind the goulash together. For a good goulash, the amount of onion should be almost equal to the amount of meat. Place the onion pieces in a pot with a little rapeseed oil until translucent; do not fry! Place the meat cubes on top of the onion pieces and let the meat simmer in its own juices for about 15-20 minutes. Then add the paprika and stir well. The goulash can handle quite a bit of paprika. Add the mustard and let the meat and onion juices reduce. This will give the goulash flavor and color. Caution: Nothing should burn. If the paprika burns, it will become bitter. Then add the leg pieces, celery, garlic, bell pepper pieces, and bay leaf, stir, and fry briefly. Deglaze with the red wine, add the tomatoes, and if everything remains too dry, add a little more beef stock or broth. Cover and let the goulash simmer on medium heat for at least 1 hour. Check occasionally for any remaining liquid, and if not, add a little more stock. Add the remaining spices—caraway, marjoram, salt, and pepper—and let the goulash simmer on low heat for another 30 minutes. You can then opt for a soup version. In this case, add more stock. Remove the marrow bones, which have been boiled dry, and serve the goulash. If you let the goulash simmer and cool overnight, it tastes even better; you’re essentially pre-cooking it for the next day. The next day you can serve it with spaetzle, dumplings or boiled potatoes.