Named after Hungarian Goulash, called gulyás or gulyásleves, American Goulash is not like Hungarian Goulash at all. Since my wife has been away, I've been preparing American Goulash at least 3 times per month (9 days worth, if you consider leftovers). That doesn't sound like too much, does it?

My Historical Relationship With American Goulash

Betty Crocker, a completely fictitious persona invented by someone in the early part of the 20th century and now owned by General Mills, put out a cookbook with some form of a hamburger goulash recipe in it. I don't remember what it was and I don't have one of those cookbooks. Either my mother or one of my sisters probably had one back in the 1960s. With 4 sisters, there was a lot of estrogen in my house.

My memory doesn't serve me well, but the American Goulash that was made at my house wasn't made too well. It contained hamburger along with the grease, sliced onions and tomato sauce, but that's all I can remember. It was often served alone because I had 8 siblings and food had to stretch as far as it could. Rice wasn't a staple in our household until we moved to Hawaii in 1974. Even then, it wasn't served with goulash most of the time.

I was briefly reminded of American Goulash more than 10 years ago when my wife threw some leftovers together that resembled it. I didn't think about it at the time because we weren't in short supply of food. There were only 4 mouths to feed.

My Recent Relationship With American Goulash

After my wife left last year, to work in the US for various reasons, I started stocking up on canned goods as well as pre-prepared meals. Hamburger Helper, another product of General Mills, was kept in my cabinets until it was no longer carried at Royal Subic (at the Freeport Zone here in the Philippines).

A few months ago, I scoured my cabinets for food as the supply ran out toward the end of the month. I found tomato paste, elbow macaroni, onions, garlic and of course, salt and pepper. I also had just under a kilo of hamburger in the freezer (about 2 lbs., give or take an ounce). Remembering American Goulash, I set about making it for the first time here.

I cooked the hamburger, after it thawed, in a large Teflon-coated pan. I then drained the oil and added 2 cups of elbow macaroni, a can of tomato paste (I don't know how much is in a can and I refuse to walk downstairs to look), 5 cups of bottled water (the tap water here is horrid, good only for bathing and washing dishes), salt, pepper, sliced onions and crushed garlic. I don't remember the exact measurements of everything and that's probably a good thing. It tastes a little different each time I make it. I cooked it until it came to a boil, and then covered it and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. I really needed a bigger pan because stirring was difficult to do without making a mess when the liquid was near the top. Once everything was thick and little fluid remained in the pan, I turned off the heat, moved the pan to an unused burner to cool, keeping it covered.

My son and I were able to eat the first batch for 3 days before running out, and we ate a lot each time.

Experimentation Is The Mother Of Invention

Or so they say (I don't have a clue as to who it was). Since my first try at making American Goulash here, I've experimented with using spaghetti sauce of different varieties instead of tomato paste. It tastes too much like spaghetti to be called goulash.

I've also used different types of pasta. I've tried both small and large elbow macaroni as well as egg noodles and other types of noodles that I can't remember. I think I'll stick with the small elbow macaroni.

I don't think I'm going to be experimenting any more. My son says it's perfect the way it is and that's good enough for me.

(Image source: My Mom's Goulash at La Mia Cusina.)