Goulash--Or Is It?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I grew up in a household that didn't eat a lot of meals that now seem to be considered "classic American" dishes. Very few casseroles, no hamburger helper, not even lasagna! My parents loved seafood, and my dad particularly loved New Orleans style seafood, so we had things like crawfish etouffee, shrimp jambalya, and my mom made a mean gumbo that I've never been able to replicate. We had Julia Child's era French food, and high-end Mexican food, like red snapper Veracruz and ceviche (although I never remember my mother making more pedestrian fare like enchiladas.)

So when I recently ran across this recipe for goulash in the New York Times, it was new to me, and on a cold December day it was tempting. I had a pound of ground beef languishing in the freezer--everything else, except for the onion and garlic, was a pantry staple. 

(My hat goes off to food photographers--there is no way to make beef and tomatoes look sexy!)

I was curious about the origins of this American goulash, as it doesn't bear much resemblance to real Hungarian goulash. Authentic goulash has neither ground beef nor macaroni. It's a cross between a soup and a stew, made with stewing beef, carrots, red and yellow bell peppers, tomato, and potatoes. The common denominator between the two dishes is paprika.

Reading the recipe comments, I learned that this dish is also called American Chop Suey, which seemed curiouser and curiouser. Was this purely a regional thing? How did a dish with roughly eastern European origins end up with a Chinese moniker? 

One theory, I learned, is that the term "chop suey" came from the Mandarin "tsa tsui" which means "a little bit of this and that." But which came first, the American goulash or the American chop suey? According to this fascinating research, recipes for American chop suey, with macaroni, predate recipes called "goulash" by about 25 years, although some version of both recipes appear in newspapers as far back as 1909. I'm fascinated by what people eat and by the cultural evolution of recipes. For instance, if you switch the paprika for cumin and chili powder, you have another beef and macaroni-based dish, Chili Mac. Also an American staple!

(We didn't eat that, either, but my friend who grew up in south Texas did.)

I made the NYT goulash recipe as written, except I subbed smoked paprika for the sweet paprika--because I have a passion thing going with smoked paprika--and it was delish. I also used whole wheat macaroni and very sharp white Cheddar, and pronounced my version of American Goulash very comforting on a cold winter night!

Reds and readers, was this a staple in your childhood? If so, what did--or do--you call it, in your part of the country?

P.S. I've put the New York Times recipe in the comments.