Thursday Thinking: Goulash & Family

My mother's parents were Hungarian-American. My father's were German-American. This means when it came to goulash I had very specific ideas of what it was


The Hungarian definition...a beef and potato stew with thick and rich, bread dipping gravy.
Not


This crap my aunt tried to convince me was goulash one cold Indiana night. My 7 year old self had to set her straight. Goulash doesn't have hamburger or macaroni and it certainly isn't Italian rip off spaghetti! That is nothing but Chili-Mac without the Chili or Spaghetti with macaroni noodles people! I am here to set the world straight.

My grandmother, may she RIP, was an amazing cook. She could do more with what she found in her garden than I can do with $100 in groceries. She lived through the depression and some of her cooking was a reflection. She made a dish called Wilted lettuce salad. Not my favorite but my grandfather loved it. The women in my family, all of us, have one thing in common, from my grandmother to my mother to me. We like to make our men happy by making their stomach happy.

Lately I have become somewhat obsessed with finding traditional Hungarian recipes and have even started a Hungarian board on Pinterest. (Don't look for Grandma's goulash there or her Kifflies, those are for my family but you can find some that are close on there.) Thankfully, Mom has the two most important recipes...the goulash and Kifflies but alas, the Chicken Paprikash is lost to time so it is up to me to try and recreate it as close to the original as possible. I don't know about you but nobody cooks as good as my grandma! (except, ironically enough spaghetti. The woman made terrible spaghetti! I am guessing her American Goulash was terrible too!)

So what kind of family traditions do you have and what food from your childhood do you have to have at the holidays or during certain times of the year???


Simply,
Laura
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