Wild Vension Goulasch - A new take on a family tradition

Passport & Plate - Wild Venison Goulasch

Germany | Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 4 photos

Ingredients
•1 – 2 lbs of venison (a flank steak was used here)
•1 x onions (white or red)
•garlic
•3 to 4 tbl spoons sweet paprika
•1 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika
•half a small can of tomato paste
• pinch cayenne pepper
•3 to 4 bay leaves
•2 cups of beef or venison stock and water
•1 to 2 teaspoons of caraway
•salt and pepper to taste

 

How to prepare this recipe
The recipe begins with lightly frying the onions and garlic in oil or butter and then adding and browning the venison. Following that add half a can of tomato paste, 2 to 3 table spoons of sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon of hot Hungarian paprika (optional) 3 to 4 bay leaves, 1 to 2 teaspoons of caraway, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a pinch each of salt and pepper.

Add 1 to 2 cups of beef stock and water. I usually use 1 table spoon of concentrated beef stock mixed into 2 cups of water. Stir the ingredients and let simmer. Don’t worry too much about not having the exact amount of spice. Goulasch is forgiving and you can always add more later as it cooks.

Let the mixture simmer for at least and hour, always keeping an eye on the liquid levels. Add more water if necessary and stock if you find the taste isn’t where it needs to be. After about a half an hour I take a taste test and play with the spicing and stock levels if required. ***Be careful here, trying to bolster the seasoning immediately following the additional of more water can lead to over seasoning. Remember, the Goulasch will cook down and loose a lot of its volume which in turn can lead to overwhelmingly concentrated flavours.***

Once the spicing is right, Its just a matter of cooking until the meat is tender. Sometimes this takes 45 minutes, sometimes over an hour. Really it all depends on your cut of meat.

Serve with potato Dumplings, Spatzle, or egg noodles.

 

The story behind this recipe
The recipe has been passed down in my family for as long as I can remember, albeit it was always made with beef. As a little kid I can remember the rich aromas of the bay leaves and tomato mingling in the air of our house, calling me to dinner. I was never long getting there when this dish was served for dinner. And to this day aromas from this dish will still trigger a pavlovian response in my mouth. The recipe has always held deep meaning for me and has epitomized the deep German traditions that I grew up with here in Canada. For this reason, and because it's darn tasty, I have continued to make it throughout my adult life. Surprisingly enough I met a half german women and I can say with some certainty that both our loves for this dish, had more than a small part in bringing us together.

A few years back I was lucky enough to travel to Germany and to experience cuisine there first hand. I had always wanted to get back to my roots and see how things were done in the rues traditional sense. Surprisingly, I quickly became aware of the plethora of culinary differences in each region, heck in each house hold. My interest was peaked and I committed to exploring the versatility of many of my favourite German dishes, including my absolute favourite, Goulasch.

Coming back to Canada I had a strong desire to experiment further. I decided to endorse the "go with what you know" approach and combined two of my many passions (the outdoors and cooking) to rework some of my favourite meals. I decided to add fresh wild venison to my family's Goulash recipe and the outcome was this delicious. After such an astounding success, I regularly make this recipe dish when ever venison is available.