6th Gulyásfesztivál - Vienna 2015

The Bécsi Magyar Munkásegyesület held its customary event, the goulash festival, on Saturday 13 June at the Böhmischer Prater. When the author arrived the mood was cheerful and hot, because of the fires under the cauldrons and the heat.
All 29 teams of the cooking competition started cooking at 12 o'clock sharp. Many came from Vienna, but there were two teams from Hungary, one from Gyula in Békés county and one from Szolnok. Both had taken part in similar events before.
The head cook of the "viharsarki betyárok", Balogh Lajos, said that all the spices used in their goulash can be found in Hungary except two, which come from abroad. Per period documents, paprika appeared in Hungary as a spice in the 1780s. Goulash was cooked by herdsmen, so it was the food of simple people; it appears on the first menus in the 1830s. In the early days it was made with pasta and green herbs, said Balogh Lajos, betyár from Gyula. The Szolnok group leader explained that they use only traditional, ancient Hungarian green herbs.
The leader of the Kerekasztal team, Radda István, said that they consider the event extremely important because it is a meeting place for Hungarians in Austria. Their goulash is made of the famous Kalocsa paprika and their recipe is secret as well. (A photo of the team members was taken.)
During the event the Délibáb folk dance group entertained the audience with folk dance and folk music, while the jury led by master cook Gál Zoltán worked tirelessly, tasting the goulash soup of every team.
In the master cook's opinion goulash must always be cooked with love to be tasty; browning the onion is also important, and the use of different spices is key.
The results were announced at 15:00. The viharsarki betyárok tied for 4th place with the "Kurucok". Third were the "Dávidok", last year's first-place team. Second were the cooks from Szolnok. The gold medallist was "Pesti konyha".
Organiser KissnéLehoczky Ilona said the first team's prize was a challenge cup and a wooden spoon decorated with gold; the others also got a wooden spoon, with silver and bronze decoration. Other prizes included a gift basket and bottled wine.
Some teams (including Kerekasztal) have taken part since the first goulash festival and received an award on this occasion for that. The goulash festival organised by the BMME can be summed up thus: the cooking competition was a truly wonderful event.

On Saturday 13 June the BMME held its goulash festival at the Böhmischer Prater. All 29 teams started cooking at exactly 12:00 in the heat; most were from Vienna, two from Hungary (the Viharsarki betyárok from Gyula and cooks from Szolnok). The Délibáb folk-dance group entertained while a jury led by master chef Zoltán Gál tasted every pot; results were announced at 15:00. The winner took a travelling cup and a spoon decorated with gold, the others spoons with silver and bronze, plus gift baskets and bottled wine. Teams that had competed in every edition since the first, including the Kerekasztal team, received a prize for it.