Szeged Goulash, a traditional Hungarian dish with a particular history

Szeged Goulash, called “Székelykáposzta” in Hungarian, is a traditional dish with a curious history. These are two recipes that almost by chance ended up combined into one: the mythical meat “goulash”, to which stewed fermented cabbage (“sauerkraut”) is added. The result is a very tasty stew that is not complicated at all to prepare at home.

Szeged Goulash and its history:

Many confusions and misunderstandings surround this recipe: its original name, Székelykáposzta, could be translated as “Székely Sauerkraut” or Sauerkraut of the Siculus, a Hungarian folk from Transylvania region. The recipe is known in German as Szegediner Gulash, that is, goulash from the city of Szeged.

And yet, this recipe is not included in the gastronomic tradition of that city nor in that of the Siculi people. It is said that it was a man named Székely who gave the name to this dish: apparently, one night he arrived late for dinner in a traditional restaurant in Budapest, so he had to settle for the mixture of two leftover dishes: goulash and sauerkraut. On successive evenings, people began to order Mr. Székely’s goulash, and thus the dish gained popularity. The recipe soon reached Vienna, the other major city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is believed that a simple misunderstanding made them understand the word “Szeged” instead of “Székely”, and that is what it continues to be called in many cities around the world until now.

Szeged goulash recipe:

Start by cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces and lightly salt it. Heat a little oil or butter in a pot and brown the meat in several batches. Reserve.

Add more oil or butter, and brown the diced bacon. Add the chopped onion and garlic, lightly salt and sauté over moderate heat, taking care not to burn it. Then add the paprika and stir for a few seconds. As with any meat stew, at this point we can optionally deglaze with a little white wine.

Return the meat to the pot and add a little beef broth. Also add the cumin seeds and the sauerkraut, from which we will have tried to drain as much of its liquid as possible, which is very bitter.

Cover and cook over low heat for 60 to 90 minutes, until the meat is very tender. The cooking time will depend, among other factors, on the cut of meat used.

In the final minutes, add about 100 ml of heavy cream, mix and cook everything for an additional 5 minutes. When serving, add a little more sour cream or heavy cream.

Tips and tricks:

1. The reason why it is recommended to brown the meat in batches is so that it does not crowd the pot; this would lower the temperature of the fat too much. Consequently, the meat would begin to leak too many juices and begin to boil rather than brown.
2. When frying with butter, it is always a good idea to also add a little oil, to prevent it from burning quickly. In many Eastern European countries, frying with lard is common, especially in recipes like this one.
3. During cooking, make sure the stew does not run out of liquid, and add a little more hot broth if necessary.
4. Sometimes a little tomato or tomato paste is added in the preparation, but the red color of this dish traditionally comes only from paprika.
5. Paprika is an iconic spice of the food culture of Hungary. It is worth making the effort to get it when we make any type of goulash, but failing that, replace it with sweet smoked paprika or smoked Spanish “pimentón”.
6. We can toast the paprika for a few seconds when adding it to the pot, but be careful not to overdo it, as it becomes bitter when it burns.
7. It is possible to replace the pork with beef, or even use a mixture of both types.
8. This is one of those typical preparations that we can save for subsequent days. Tradition says that this goulash is better when it is reheated.