Peppered tokány

Peppered tokány /  Borsos tokány

Cut the beef into strips of 1/2 inch/ 5 mm thickness, and 2 inches/5 cm in length. Sauté the onion in the oil until golden. Add the meat, and brown on all sides. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and the wine, then cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat. Pour in a little water if necessary.

Add the tomato paste when the meat is half-cooked. Add a little more water if required, and continue cooking until the meat is done. Let the liquid reduce as much as possible. This dish has a smooth, brown sauce. It goes well with boiled or mashed potatoes, rice, or polenta.

The goulash family  – “Pörkölt” “Paprikás” and “Tokány”

This masterpiece, still a defining factor in Hungarian cuisine today, can undoubtedly be traced back to cooking in a kettle. Fat and onions have been used since at least the Middle Ages. However, gulyás, pörkölt, and paprikás did not appear until the end of the 18th century, when people were just starting to season food with paprika.

The speedy development and enduring popularity of these dishes is easy to understand when you remember that pork fat was used almost exclusively in Hungary in former times, and that its flavor is what makes the fat/onion combination so delicious. That said, there is no cause for concern among the more health-conscious of us — most delicacies lose nothing if vegetable oil is used instead, which the latest nutritional research shows is better for us.

Apart from pörkölt and paprikás, there is another member of the family of dishes that are seasoned with the “trinity” of oil, onions, and paprika, and it probably originated from Transylvania: tokány. Details