h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I also wondered about this, but I thought it must be a cultural thing that I don't understand.

Entry: Goulash - A36663023
Author: Gnomon - U151503

I reckon this recipe is good for 8 people. Since most of the things in it are in 2's, would it be a good idea to divide everything by 2 and make the recipe for 4 people? I think four is the normal number for most recipes.

I say that people are put off by paprika because they think it is very spicy/hot.

Incidentally, is 'spicy' a valid term to mean 'hot'? I make dishes that have lots of spices in them but are not hot. Are these spicy?

I think Goulash is a dish which is really good to make for many people, so I'd leave the amounts for 8 people (but tell that it is for 8 people) and let people do the deviding themselves if they want to make less.

Thanks.
I've added the fact that it is for 8 people.
I've reworded the bit about being worried by paprika.
I've added the metric equivalent of the 3 pounds of meat.

I still need to work out what size a tin of tomatoes and a carton of sour cream are, as they may differ from country to country.

For that amount of meat, a tin of approx 1 lb of tomatoes (450 g) should do. Two tins, even. That's the weight of the tomatoes, not the whole contents of the tin. I think that's the weight given on the tins.

My husband can't eat tomatoes, but he's OK if I substitute a tin of tomatoes with a pack of strained tomatoes (passata?) or a half-litre of vegetable or tomato juice.

If it's any help, the usual size for a carton of sour cream in Germany is 150g - some may be 200g, depending on the make.

I was using two tins. I just don't know what size the tins are. Normal tin-sized tins.

The standard tin (about twice as tall as wide) is 400g, I reckon.

I'll check when I get home.

I've found that you get better flavour from paprika if you add it near the end of cooking, rather than at the beginning.

You're right, Icy, a standard tin is 400g.

It's not the most useful of skills, but I've always prided myself in my ability to estimate the weight of a can of tomatoes.

I've been meaning to pop by because my Hungarian student gave me a recipe for goulash a couple of weeks ago. I've only just got round to making it.

Interestingly, it's a soup rather than a stew. I wondered if that's just because 'stew' is a word she doesn't know (low level student) but no, the thing comes out very soupy. Large quantities of beef stock are involved.

It's made with potatoes as the starchy componant. It also has carrots rather than peppers, but that might just be preference.

While I was trying to decipher my student's instructions, I looked up goulash in my Central/ Eastern European cookbook. Funnily enough there are thre recipes for goulash in that, all of which use potatoes. One with lamb, one with beef, one with fish. They all had paprika in, of course but, and I thought this was very interesting, the lamb one had an intro which went '...of course this is not a true goulash because it uses flour as a thickener...' The other recipes don't use flour and neither did my student's.

That's what I said. real goulash is like a soup.

In Austria we also use flour to thicken the goulash... which of course makes it unlike real goulash.

That's interesting, Tav. In Germany, we differentiate between Gulasch and Gulaschsuppe. (Goulash and Goulash soup) The one is large chunks of meat and less gravy, the other - the soup - is more liquied and smaller chunks of meat.

When I lived in Spain, the mother of the family I was au pair in had this theory that all national dishes (which goulash surely is) were ways of using up leftovers, or just what you had around the house. So any stew (Irish stew, Spanish fabada, Italian minestrone, French potage) would have so many different recipes and possible ingredients that I'm sure carrots would be fine if used here.

Gnomon has given an easy to follow basic recipe, and I am quite happy with it as it is.

Tins of tomatoes are 400 g in Germany, too - I checked. I was thinking of those big ones, but I couldn't find any of those. The weight of the tomatoes in the 400 g tins is 240g.

Yes, we also call it Gulaschsuppe, but if you eat goulash in Hungary, that's what you get.
(we live very close to the border here, one of my colleagues at work even lives in Hungary)

Yes, a tin is definitely 400g.

My husband says that all British cooking was designed to use up leftovers. Which is true as far as he knows - I rarely make the Sunday Lunch bit to produce the leftovers to use up.

Bubble and squeak is the ultimate use of leftovers. But I doubt if these days it would be called a national dish.

In Austria I think rather than putting stuff in a stew we put it in a pan together with noodles and/or potatoes and onions and call it Grenadiermarsch.