When is a Goulash not a Goulash?

The answer is: when a chef's ego gets in the way. 

My wife is Hungro-Canadian, and if something like Goulash or Chicken Paprika doesn't follow the stanard, then you're in trouble.  

I thought I was being smart, doing a variation, my variation on a Hungarian classic.  I committed sacrilege.  I tossed in things like bacon, I used a mire poix, and I was in the wrong.  Rule of thumb, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  I didn't make that mistake again.  What makes Hungarian food taste so good is its simplicity.

Goulash is nothing more than beef, paprika (from what I understand, usually adding both sweet and hot), water or chicken stock, salt and pepper, a few bay leaves, onions, potatoes, and lard (depending on how rich you want it).  Sometimes its thickened, other times its more soup like.  A lot of people who are not familiar with an authentic goulash, put a lot of things in, like I did, but some of the things people add make me frown too.

I never made the mistake of doing that with Chicken Paprika, then I would have really been in trouble.