Combining recipes from two cultures

Hungarian Goulash and Venezuelan stewed meat

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Shepherds cooking goulash in a cauldron called bogracs

Venezuelan stewed meat is very similar to a Hungarian goulash, only that we vary the ingredients to our own taste and the goulash is a millenary recipe that is still used in that country. In western culture we have removed and put ingredients that differ from the original recipe. Venezuelan stewed meat always have potatoes and carrots and I think it's in order to make it enough for everyone and also some people put too much garlic.

Hungarian goulash is possibly one of the most primitive stews, based on meat, onions and bacon fat. And as everything changes or man make changes, other ingredients were incorporated, such as potatoes, red paprika en polvo, tomatoes, spices and red wine. Nowdays you can use pork and lamb. Also long time ago it was accompanied with sour cream and it is not known if it was a thick soup or a ragu like our venezuelan stewed meat.

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In every trip, the shepherds carried with them some ingredients needed to prepare the goulash, which usually consisted of dried meat, onions, and bacon fat. They shephered for many days and the cold was intense, so that they needed a strong food that gave them the energy to withstand the inclement cold.

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Hungarian Komondor shepherd dogs

Now I proceed to give the recipe of a venezuelan stewed meat mixed with a Hungarian goulash recipe. I put something different to this recipe, I like to bake the potatoes and put them at the end.

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo of good quality beef

• 1/2 kilo of ripe tomatoes

• 1 large onion

• 4 potatoes

• 3 tablespoons of wheat flour

• salt to taste

• 2 tablespoons of paprika if you have it if not, you can use1 large red pepper well ripened and processed

• 3 tablespoons of olive or canola oil

• salt to taste

• if you have it, 1/2 cup of red wine

• 2 cups of meat broth

• chopped parsley

• Sour cream to serve, it can be cream or natural yoghurt

• Don´t put garlic or cumin, so that you can preserve the taste of the paprika, but in venezuelan stew you can do it

Preparation:

• Peel and cut the potatoes in small pieces and put them on a tray with some butter and bring to the oven until they are golden

• Cut the meat in pieces, and spread with the flour, salt and paprika

• In a pan fry the uncooked onion and preserve

• Then fry the meat and continue cooking until the meat is browned, please be careful not to burn, it will change the flavour

• Add the wine and the broth

• Place everything in a clay pan for oven, add the wine and the broth

• Finally adjust the salt and put the rest of the paprika, cook for 2 to 3 hours

• Once it is done, add the potatoes stir and serve

You can eat it with the sour cream or you can cook more potatoes and bathe the potatoes with the cream and the parsley.

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The venezuelan stewed meat is accompanied with rice and ripe plantains fried