The basis of a good honest goulash is meat. But what can you do when your “pork” or “beef” is stiff as a sole?
We all know that goulash is a Hungarian thing. If you were looking for the most remote origin of goulash, then you would have to go a little further down, to Turkey. But don’t tell the Hungarians that. Historians claim that the food originated at the time when Budin and Pest were besieged by the Turks and it was necessary to feed a large army.
Then a large cauldron was prepared, into which beef, various vegetables, but also warming spices – pepper, ginger and curry – were thrown. The warriors of that time ate meat soup with a grain pancake and praised it a lot.
The name Guláš is a reminder of these times, as it is derived from the Hungarian “gulya” (meaning a herd of cattle) and the Turkish Asker (or As), which means soldier. So the next time you cook goulash for your family, remember these Hungarian and Turkish hunger strikers.
Taste the boar stew from the oven. The author of the video, Pregnant Chef, tells you how. More on the channel YouTube.com.
Source: Youtube
Czechs have their goulash
While in Hungary goulash is cooked exclusively from beef and vegetables, many of its offshoots have taken hold in our meadows and groves – from classic beef, to pork, mushroom, belly or even “chizen” in the form of burr goulash. But all stews have one thing in common – it’s a one-pot meal that’s simple, takes almost no work, and feeds the whole family. And you just have to take advantage of that!
Simple food for the family
“For me, goulash is a quick dish. I cut the meat, put it in the papiňák and lunch is ready in no time,” says reader Julie from Prague, who serves goulash to her family mainly when she is busy at work. Reader Zdeněk is in the same situation, who cooks goulash at the cottage, where he has “field conditions” for preparing more complex dishes. In short, for goulash, all you have to do is chop the ingredients and let it cook nicely… But as it happens, even with such trivial things as this dish, a lot of unpleasantness can happen.
Meat as a base
One of them is meat. “Having bad meat in a goulash is an instant fiasco,” says the chef, adding that this specialty depends on quality meat. You can practically use any kind of meat to prepare goulash, for example beef or pork, especially shoulder, wing, strip or belly. You can also use chicken or turkey for stew, but it’s not quite “it”. Soup or sauce, which should be rather thick, acquires a rather undesirable dietary character due to lean pieces. And you don’t want that…
Beware of the boiling power!
“Sometimes it happens that you have stewed the meat in a stew, but it is still as hard as the sole of a shoe. In such a case, the fault may lie in the wrong choice of meat,” says the expert, who recommends using pork or beef with a greater amount of connective tissue, which dissolves during heat treatment and softens the meat. Another thing that can spoil the joy of a well-cooked goulash is a high temperature.
“Stew should be cooked for a long time, but on a low heat. If you cook it literally at full throttle, then what happens is that the meat becomes tough. And that’s a shame. Therefore, set aside some time to prepare the goulash,” advises the chef.
Vodka as first aid
But if it happened to you that the meat in the goulash is as hard as a rock, don’t despair. Try the trick of our grandmothers, who “tamed” unyielding pieces of pork or beef with an added spoonful of vodka. Alcohol changes the structure of the proteins in the meat, causing the fibers to break down faster.
Your meat base will then become softer and even so much so that it will literally melt in your mouth. Therefore, do not despair and trust vodka, which will save your goulash one hundred percent!
Sources: www.prozeny.cz, www.toprecepty.cz
