Tried and Tested Nº4 | "Herdhelden" by Sarah Wiener

She started with film catering and later opened up several restaurants across Berlin. Since she's been appearing on the small screen regularly, Sarah Wiener has gained celebrity chef status. So of course, a cook book is the next logical step. Promising to make you into a “Herdheld” (stove hero), the cover shows an enthused Sarah with a wooden spoon held high towards the sky. All recipes are from Sarah's home country Austria.

Classic Viennese Goulash with Bread Dumplings:

Ingredients (for 4 people)

Goulash:

1 kg onions

100 g pork dripping (or vegetable oil)

1 kg beef (Wadschinken/Hesse, Wade)

2 tbsp sweet pepper powder

1 tsp hot pepper powder

2 tbsp tomato paste

½ l meat stock

some fresh majoram leaves

1 tps caraway seeds

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

salt

Bread Dumplings:

5 stale bread rolls

Salt, freshly grated pepper

¼ l milk

1 onion

1 tbsp gehackte Petersilie

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

2-3 eggs

breadcrumbs

Preparation:

We start with the goulash. Peel and dice onions into fine cubes. Heat dripping in a large pot and add onions. Stir until onions are translucent.

Cut beef into 2-3 cm large cubes. Add meat to onions and roast on all sides. As soon as the jus has evaporated, add pepper powders and tomato paste. Stir and roast and deglaze with a cup of stock.

Finely chop majoram leaves (alternatively use dried majoram). Grind caraway seeds in mortar. Add to goulash with bay leaves, mix all ingredients and add salt.

Add another cup of stock so the meat is entirely covered. Put cover on pot and let gently simmer for about one hour. Stir and add stock from time to time to avoid burning. Not too much liquid in the pot though, so the sauce stays smooth.

While the goulash is simmering away, we'll prepare the bread dumplings. Cut rolls into small cubes. Add salt and pepper. Boil milk and pour evenly over cut rolls. Peel and dice onions, steam with parsely in hot butter. Add to rolls. Sprinkle flour on top, add two eggs.

Mix first with wooden spoon, then using your hands until the dough has bonded. If the dough is too soft, add some breadcrumbs. If the dough is too crumby, add more milk and another egg. Leave dough to rest for 30 minutes.

Boil water in a large pot. Form four to six dumplings from the dough, place in boiling water and immediately reduce heat. Let simmer in open pot for about 20 minutes. Then serve dumplings with goulash and sauce.

Handling:

The goulash recipe was kind of a tough one. When we asked for 1 kg of “Wadshinken/ Hesse, Wade” beef at the butcher's, we didn't get beef but clueless looks from the butcher instead. It wasn't until we mentioned the word “goulash” that we got what we needed. Some of the Austrian expressions in the book might seem irritating for German speakers at first (Paradeiser = tomatos). There were no problems in the kitchen later on, both recipes were fine for two very inexperienced part time chefs. Preparing the dough was fun, but cutting a kilo of onions was kind of annoying. And you have to be patient – a pot of goulash takes longer than a pot of spaghetti.

Resumée:

The cook book is a confirmation of Ms Wiener's exceptional cooking. Her recipes are a great introduction to Alpine cuisine and are exactly right for people that like to cook and spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Some people might find the recipes to be a little too complex – especially because they may have extensive amounts of ingredients that will take a lot of time to shop for. But Viennese Goulash and Dumplings are great for beginners!

(azi, obu)