A terrific traditional dish that’s just right for the cooler weather!
By Ari Weinzweig
Craving a hearty, flavorful dish to warm you up on a cool evening? A fan of Hungarian cuisine? Already hooked on the Bakehouse’s tempting selection of pastries, tortes, and savory dishes? Or perhaps you’re just in the mood for a great meal? Whatever the reason, let me recommend a bowl of rich, paprika-infused Hungarian beef stew—it’s the perfect comfort food!
About the Hungarian stew
While the dish itself is centuries old, this beef stew was featured at the Roadhouse as a special thanks in great part to the good work of Zsofie Towne. Zsofie is from Hungary and deeply passionate about helping spread the word about the terrific cooking of her homeland. After a few weeks of testing and tasting with longtime head chef Bob Bennett, the Marhapörkölt made its debut on our monthly specials for November. While only a few weeks on the menu, it had won raves all around.
Zsofie shares this about what she and Bob had put together for us:
The Hungarian beef stew originated with cattle herders who cooked in the fields using cast iron kettles and open fire. It originates from the region called Alföld in Hungary. An interesting fact is that paprika powder only began to be used in Hungary in the 18th century. Over the years, the beef stew became popular in the Hungarian Jewish community—because it was made from beef, it was a good way to cook in the pork-heavy culinary culture of the country that Jews keeping kosher couldn’t otherwise access.
Marhapörkölt is a thick paprika-rich stew and it is slow cooked. We make it here at the Roadhouse with our pasture-raised beef, ground and simmered for hours with onions, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, a little cumin, and a lot of Hungarian paprika. It creates a rich, thick, slightly spicy, very beefy stew that’s can be served over roasted Yukon Gold potatoes or dumplings.
About the paprika.
The paprika, to be clear, is a particularly important part of the dish. It isn’t just a garnish—it’s sort of the main point of the recipe! Here in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, we use paprika from the Hodi family in the paprika-producing region of Szeged in the south of the country. The Hodis, to my knowledge, are one of the only family producers left that has enough size and volume for us to get hold of their product, but are still small enough that they grow and process all their own peppers. They grow the peppers, ripen them fully in the field, dry, stone grind, and then hand pack the paprika. Visually it is a dark fiery red and it has an unsurpassable aroma and eye-opening pungency and depth of flavor.
Hungarian Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 lb stew beef
- 3 large onions
- 2 green peppers
- 2 tomatoes
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 2 oz olive oil
- 1 TBSP tomato puree
- Ground cumin seeds to taste
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 2 TBSP of Hódi Paprika
Procedure:
Cut the meat into cubes. Finely chop the cleaned onion and the garlic. Chop the tomatoes and, peppers according to your taste. In a large pot, sautée the onion and garlic with olive oil. When the onion has become translucent, throw in the beef cubes and sear until browned. Sprinkle with paprika, add the tomato paste, and stir. Add water until just covered and throw in cumin seeds. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat, stirring frequently, for 3-4 hours. If necessary, top off the boiled water. Add the pepper and tomato halfway through the cooking time, then when the meat has softened and the broth is thick, add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 6
Nokedli/Dumpling
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- ¾ cup water
- 2 eggs
- 1 large pot filled with salted boiling water
Procedure:
Place large pot filled with salted water and bring to boil. Combine eggs, salt, and water in a bowl, and beat well with whisk. Add flour, a little at a time. Add only enough flour to make a soft, sticky dough. Let the mixture rest, covered, for about 10 mins. Beat mixture again. Using the side of a teaspoon. Add a small amount of the dough into boiling water. Dipping the spoon in the hot water will remove the dough from the spoon (if you have a spaetzle maker, that makes it easier as you want very small noodles). The noodles are done when they float to the top. Remove from water with a large, slotted spoon, and place in colander. Rinse with cold water. You may want to make the dumplings in 2 or 3 batches, so they don’t overcook.