Tripe goulash

Ingredients:

• 1.5kg cleaned, ready-to-cook tripe, 3 onions, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp peppercorns, 1 lemon, salt, 150g smoked bacon, 5 tbsp oil or 60-80g fat, 4 garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp each of ground caraway seeds, ground black pepper and marjoram, 1.5-2 tbsp of quality ground paprika, 1-1 Hungarian wax pepper and tomato, 1/2 tsp hot Piros Arany or Erős Pista, 1 tsp Univer mild goulash paste, 3-4 carrots, 2-3 parsley roots, 2kg potatoes
• to decorate: Univer Karikás Pista

1. Put the tripe with the halved onions, the bay leaves, peppercorns and the halved lemon into a cauldron (or bogrács in Hungarian). Add enough water to cover it. Bring to a boil over a strong fire. Reduce the fire under the pot by spreading the logs or lifting the pot. Add salt to the tripe (1 level tbsp will do for starters), cover it and cook for two hours until almost tender. Lift it carefully on a tray, and cut it into 1.5 cm strips after it has cooled. You may save a lot of time when you cook the tripe the night before the outdoor cooking event, and win a head start to cook the goulash.

2. Cut the bacon into thin strips and chop the remaining two onions finely. Melt the fat from the bacon adding the oil or cooking fat into the pot, over medium heat, then sauté the onion. Add the tripe strips and some salt (1 tsp for starters). Flavour it with the pressed garlic, caraway seed, pepper, marjoram and red paprika. Stir lightly, then immediately add about 800ml of water to prevent the paprika from burning. Add the diced pepper, tomato, Piros Arany and goulash paste. Cover it and then steam the tripe over moderate heat (lifting the pot higher) for about 1 hour until it is totally tender. Stir occasionally and, if necessary, add a little water. 

3. Clean the vegetables. Slice the carrots and the parsley roots into rings, add to the tripe to simmer and in the meantime peel and dice the potatoes into roughly 2.5 cm cubes. Add these to the tripe. Add as much water (about 3–3.5 litres) as the quantity of soup you wish to make. For starters

Add 1 heaped tsp salt and bring to a boil. Leave a tiny opening for the lid, and cook for 30 more minutes. Add noodles if you like them. Finally taste and add salt and spices as necessary. Decorate it with Karikás Pista.