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Poerkoell
(Hungary.) This is another national dish of the country. Cut into 2-inch squares 2 pounds of veal from the shin. Add half as much of the tenderloin of fresh pork, and fry both with an onion, some herbs, and a little paprika. Cover with 3 cups of bouillon and cook 1 hour. Serve with a vegetable border.
A workable outline of Hungarian pörkölt, written telegraphically for cooks who already knew the dish. Two things need attention: how the paprika is handled, and the mismatch between the two cuts of meat.
- Paprika must not scorchThis is the hinge. Paprika burns in hot fat within seconds and turns acrid and bitter. Pull the pan off the heat after the onion and meat have browned, stir the paprika in off the flame, then add the bouillon immediately.
- Use more paprika than "a little"Pörkölt takes its colour and body from paprika, and "a little" is likely understated. For 3 lb of meat, 2 to 3 tablespoons of sweet Hungarian paprika is a common amount. Buy it fresh; paprika that has sat in a cupboard for two years is red dust.
- The two cuts do not cook at the same rateVeal shin is collagen-rich and wants 90 minutes to 2 hours to become tender. Pork tenderloin is done in minutes and will be dry and stringy after one hour, let alone two. Substituting pork shoulder for the tenderloin brings both cuts into line.
- "Bouillon"Plain veal or beef stock, unsalted or lightly salted, since it reduces over the hour. Three cups for 3 lb of meat gives a stew that is barely covered, which is correct: pörkölt should end with a thick clinging sauce, not a soup.
- Onion quantityOne onion is thin for this dish. Hungarian recipes generally call for a great deal more onion, finely chopped and cooked slowly until soft and golden; it melts away and thickens the sauce. Two or three large onions is nearer the mark.
- "Some herbs"Deliberately vague. Hungarian practice runs to caraway seed, a bay leaf, and a green pepper or a tomato dropped in whole. Fresh green herbs are not part of the classic version.
- Cooking vessel and heatA heavy lidded casserole or Dutch oven at a bare simmer on the stovetop. Stir occasionally, and add stock a splash at a time if it tightens too far before the veal gives way.
- "A vegetable border"A ring of cooked vegetables piped or spooned around the edge of the platter with the stew in the centre, a standard service of the period. Modern practice is simply to serve it over egg noodles, nokedli dumplings, or boiled potatoes.
- YieldThree pounds of meat serves six generously.
Pörkölt — the name comes from the Hungarian verb meaning to singe or roast, referring to the initial browning of the meat and onion — is one of a family of paprika stews that outsiders lump together as goulash. Hungarians distinguish them fairly strictly: gulyás is a soup, pörkölt is this thick onion-and-paprika braise with no thickening beyond the melted onion, and paprikás is pörkölt finished with sour cream, usually with veal or chicken. Paprika itself is generally said to have reached Hungary by way of the Ottoman Balkans, and was a peasant seasoning for a long time before it became the national flavour in the nineteenth century. The odd spelling here is harder to account for: an Anglo-American printer lacking the umlaut might render the Hungarian ö as oe, but that alone does not explain the form actually printed, which drops the final t and doubles the l.