Page "Goulash" Paragraph 9

The word gulyás originally meant only " herdsman ," but over time the dish became gulyáshús ( goulash meat ) – that is to say, a meat dish which was prepared by herdsmen.

Today, gulyás refers both to the herdsmen, and to the soup.

From the Middle Ages until well into the 19th century, the Puszta was the home of massive herds of cattle.

They were driven, in their tens of thousands, to Europe ’ s biggest cattle markets in Moravia, Vienna, Nuremberg and Venice.

And the herdsmen made sure that there was always one " sickly " creature that had to be slaughtered along the way, the flesh of which provided them with a magnificent gulyáshús.