Cookbook:Szegedin Goulash

| Austrian Cuisine

Szegedin goulash is a variety of goulash that adds sauerkraut and sour cream to the traditional ingredients. Most people believe that the name "Szegedin Goulash" derives from Szeged, a town in Hungary. But in fact, the Hungarian name "Székély goulash" comes from Jozsef Székély, a Hungarian journalist and poet who lived from 1825 to 1895. The recipe here originates from the original contributor's mother-in-law, with slight modifications. The original contributor noted the following anecdote:"'As my mother-in-law was a dedicated and very good cook, both her friends - she was a generous host - and her family praised her delicious cooking. Being tired of the frequent recipe questions about her meals, she decided one day to create her own family cookbook as a gift to her four children. She gathered the most successful recipes she had cooked during her long experience as a housewife and cook, and there were many of them! She took some of the recipes from various magazines, simply copied them and added to her collection. But most of the recipes she had to write down out of her memory or she had to cook them again. This turned out to be quite challenging, for she actually was a rather intuitive cook. For the first time in her life, she had to pay attention to weighing, measuring and counting accurately all of the ingredients she would use for a meal. The result was a wonderful and very personal cookbook, which for the most part is handwritten. Thus, with 'Mamis Schmankerln', as my mother-in-law called her cookbook, she left a unique and unforgettable heritage to both her children and their spouses.'"

Ingredients

 * 100 g lard
 * 600 g pork shoulder, cut into bite-sized cubes
 * 1 large onion, finely chopped
 * 1–2 tbsp tomato purée
 * 1½ tsp paprika
 * Water or beef stock
 * 2 bay leaves
 * 1–2 garlic cloves, minced
 * Salt
 * Freshly-ground pepper
 * 700 g sauerkraut
 * 125 ml sour cream

Procedure

 * 1) Heat the lard in a pot, then add the pork and sauté it for about 3 minutes. Take out the pork and set it aside on a plate.
 * 2) Put the finely chopped onions into the casserole and fry until they become golden brown.
 * 3) Stir in the tomato purée and paprika, and add some water or stock. Then add the meat, bay leaves and garlic; pour in more water or stock and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and cook for about 30 minutes.
 * 4) Add the sauerkraut, and cook for another 40 minutes.
 * 5) Add the sour cream, mix it thoroughly with the goulash, and serve it on warm plates.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Uncooked sauerkraut is supposed to be very healthy because it contains many vitamins. To preserve the vitamins, you can set aside 1/5 of the sauerkraut and to just add it by the end of the cooking process.
 * A good side dish for the szegedin goulash is boiled potatoes.