Gulyásleves

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Gulyásleves is a typical Hungarian soup, made of beef, paprika and various other ingredients. It originates from the cattlemen ("gulyás" = Hungarian cowboy; "leves"= soup) who tended their herds in the Great Hungarian Plain, known as the "Alföld" in Hungarian. These Hungarian cowboys often camped out with their cattle days away from populated areas, so they had to make their food from ingredients they could carry with themselves, and this food had to be cooked in the one available portable cauldron over an open fire. Beef, onions, paprika, and caraway seeds provide its typical flavour. Cubed potatoes and pasta squares are typically added to this spicy soup. There are different variations of the recipe. Tomatoes and fresh peppers (often hot chillies) are also added. Often mixed meats are used (e.g. beef and mutton/lamb). "Gulyásleves" is a very characteristic Hungarian dish. This dish is not to be confused with another typically Hungarian (and similar) recipe which has become known outside Hungary as "goulash", which really is Hungarian "pörkölt" or "paprikás", and which is not a soup.

See the article goulash for its various international bastardizations and derivatives.