A small tuxedo-clad orchestra doesn't serenade us when we eat Hungarian gulyás soup at home. Too bad. It was a nice touch when we tasted our first authentic Magyar version of the dish in Budapest at the legendary Gundel restaurant (HU-1146, Gundel Károly út 4., Budapest; +36 30 603 2480; gundel.hu). Often bastardized as ‶goulash,″ gulyás (pronounced GOO-yash) has been the country's national dish since the early 19th century. That designation was made to differentiate Hungarian cuisine from the Austrian cooking of their oppressors of the moment. The soup's historic roots offer a nice international analogy to the chile con carne of Texas. Magyar herdsmen would spice, cook, and dry the flesh of lean cows culled from their herds and pack the meat into their...Read More