How to Make a Hearty Transylvanian Goulash

Byamazingfoodstv


This hearty, brick-colored stew—a close cousin to Hungarian goulash—opts for rich, marbled pork shoulder, rather than beef, as its base.

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37 Comments

  1. I like this, though it is different from what I have had in my younger days. One thing I would quibble about, and change. No peasant in Hungary or Transylvania would use butter or oil as fat. Render some smoked bacon fat and use that in place of your recipe fats. Budapeter

  9. For those wondering if they should cook this dish, I will save you the trouble, don’t. I should have trusted my gut when I saw the ingredients. I’m throwing it out. I prefer stew to have a wine and stock base. Much prefer beef in stew.

  14. Not Gulyás which is the right way to spell , also Hungarians don’t have kielbasa that’s polish this video is so wrong on so many levels … this in fact is Székely káposzta . Gulyás is a soup and made with beef not pork this is a stew ! Also at this point I am convinced nobody on this video is familiar with Hungarian cooking NEVER have I seen anybody in any traditional cooking use celery stalks , we use the root in soups but that’s very American way of cooking .

  15. ❤ What a great recipe! And thanks to Lawman for his clear, concise method — easy to follow! 👍 Can’t wait to make it for my 2nd-generation Hungarian husband! I love Hungarian recipes to honor his immigrant mother and this is a keeper!! And always great to cook with Bridget 🤩

  19. The referenced restaurant was a unique experience. It was a hole in the wall… literally, as you entered into the kitchen and then walked through a wall with a giant hole to enter into the dining room. The food was very good. The cucumber salad would be a good recipe to honor as well. Unfortunately , Alex passed away in 2022 and the establishment is now closed.

  22. You need to brush up on your Hungarian culinary history. First of all this recipe has nothing to do with Transylvania! What is tripping you up is the use of the word "Székely" . This is the same given to Hungarians who live in the remote Carpathian mountain valleys of what is now northeastern Romania. The word Székely is also a very common Hungarian surname. It is well documented that this dish was named after József Székely a Hungarian journalist and good friend of the Hungarian lyric poet Sándor Petõfi. The story goes that Petõfi and Mr. Székely would frequently have supper at the same inn. One evening Mr. Székely was late for supper and when the proprietor told him there was little food left in the kitchen, just some pork pörkölt (a simple stew)and sauerkraut, Mr. Székely replied, just serve those leftovers with some bread for his meal. When the plate arrived on it was a bed of sauerkraut, topped with the pork pörkölt and that topped with a dollop of sour cream and a side of crusty bread. Sitting at the neighboring table was the poet Sándor Petõfi observing what transpired. So the following evening when Petõfi came to supper at the inn he was asked what he wanted he replied, "I want some of Mr. Székely's goulash"! Thus was this dish born. It is also sometimes called székely káposzta (Székely Cabbage). This dish never has Pascal celery in it a vegetable rarely used in Hungarian cooking. The dish is usually served with crusty bread and sometimes boiled potatoes. Szegedinsky Goulash is the corrupted German name for this dish. I guess the Germans had difficulty pronouncing Székely and they also associated the the dish with the Hungarian city of Szeged which was and still is a center of paprika growing and milling.

  30. This is screaming for homemade egg noodles! I often cook a pork roast in my kraft, but I've never thought to combine it with goulash. Beef is so expensive now and the flavor is so off, I 've been wanting to try goulash with pork. Next Sunday's dinner with German slaw. Yum!

  37. Hungarian here. I've no doubt this is delicious, but I can assure you that no goulash recipe anywhere in or around Hungary uses celery. It's not a thing. I'm sure it's yummy, but its addition is a North American twist. Also, you always, without exception, take your pan off the heat when adding paprika. It burns almost instantly. Look how dark it is on the bottom of the pan.

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