Making a soup using a family recipe

GULYÁS LEVES

My grandparents came from Hungary to Brazil after the II Great War around 1949. My father and aunt were born in the city of São Paulo and lived their entire lives in the Hungarian colony in Brazil. Culinary is one of the most valuable heritage that Hungarians brought to Brazil in that period.

The Gulyás leves (or goulash soup) is one of the Hungarian national dishes, even though some Austrians say otherwise. In my family, Hungarian food has been playing a crucial role for many many years. Actually, the real interest that I have developed for food comes from my family’s kitchen, and Gulyás symbolically holds the crown.

RECIPE

Preparation time: 9 hours

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

500g meat, small cubes, lean

1 carrot – medium dices

3 potatoes – medium dices

1 celery stalk – brunoise

1 white onion – brunoise

1 red onion - Julienne

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped

1 cup red wine, dry

1 spice bag

1 rosemary stalk

¼ cup oil

2 cups brown beef stock

1 tbs salt

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp hot paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika

¼ cup cream (optional)

Equipment

Cutting board

Chef’s knife

Wooden spoon

Cheesecloth

Twine

Ladle

Pressure Cooker

Bowls

Preparation

1- Prepare a marinade with the meat, red wine, rosemary stalk, and ½ red onion. Leave in the refrigerator for 8 hours;

2- Drain the meat and save the marinate liquid;

3- In the pressure cooker, heat the oil and brown the meat;

4- Add white onion brunoise, celery, the mix of paprika and stir until onion is soft;

5- Add marinade liquid, salt, and ½ brown beef stock;

6- Close pressure cooker and low the heat. Leave it cooking for 20 minutes.

7- Safely open the cooker lid and add the rest of brown beef stock, the carrot, spice bag, and cook for 5 minutes more and often skim;

8- Add the potatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes, simmering, no lid, and continue skimming;

9- Seasoning to taste;

10- Serve it still hot in a ceramic bowl;

11- Garnish with finely chopped parsley and red onion Julienne.

12- Add a few drops of cream (optional)

Old Recipe Book Marinade Mise en Place

Brown Meat Beef Stock Carrots Potatoes Skimming Serving

RECIPE STEP BY STEP VIDEO

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/20bc16_21cc101b3676473b832b3de778d453a9/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Standards of Quality

Appearance: golden amber colour, degreased.

Flavour and Aroma: full body, spicy, robust meat/bone flavour, paprika-ish aroma.

Texture: good body and mouthfeel. Tender legumes.

My wife tried the Gulyás soup as dinner. Even though the night was scorching, she said that that the soup was one of the best I have already made. I believe that she has noticed that, by using a craft brown beef stock, the flavours came out more powerfully. The legumes were tender but not mushy.

My best client tasting and approving the Gulyás leves.

Challenges involved and What I would do differently

- The cuttings are still a challenge for me. But I am getting better recipe after recipe;

- The action plan and workflow have improved a lot since I started the college and Culinary Foundations classes;

- Next time, I will try to clarify the beef stock first. Even though any Hungarian recipe mentions the technique, I believe that it worth trying.

This time I have learnt better to balance filming/photographing while cooking. I have also understood that any family recipe can be improved by using more elaborated techniques. And acknowledge that can transform me into a better cook in the future.