Székely Gulyás on the RMS Carpathia
A delicious and hearty, Hungarian pork & sauerkraut stew, inspired by a menu from the ship that rescued the Titanic survivors.
The first recipe on this blog and my YouTube channel, Curried Chicken & Rice, was inspired by my (almost) lifelong fascination with the Titanic disaster. In having this fascination, I’m not alone; considering the amount of Titanic-based media out there, from movies, to video and board games, to musical theater. Even though it’s been 112 years, Titanic still holds our attention.
For many people though, their interest in the Titanic disaster, let alone early 20th Century steamships, is limited to their enjoyment of the James Cameron movie, and a visit to one of the (now) numerous Titanic exhibitions while they’re on vacation. But to a certain type of history nerd (i.e., me) seeing Titanic when they were a kid, was just the first step into the fascinating world of ocean liners!
Thankfully, there are actually plenty of surviving menus, from various ocean liners from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, for us to explore! That being the case, I think it might be fun to sprinkle the blog with recipes from these various ships; many of these vessels have their own, interesting stories to tell, and the dishes on their menus are…interesting to say the least (and hopefully tasty)!
And what better ship to focus on for my 2nd, steamship-inspired recipe, than the 2nd most prominent ship of the Titanic saga: the RMS Carpathia.
The titular RMS Carpathia, hero ship of the Titanic disaster
The ship that would eventually become the savior of Titanic’s survivors, was constructed between 1901 - 1902 at the C.S. Swan & Hunter Shipyards, in Wallsend, England, on behalf of the Cunard Line; one of the main competitors of Titanic’s White Star Line.
She was constructed as an “intermediate” liner; it seems Cunard tended to group their ships into “Cargo”, “Intermediate”, and “Express”. Cargo ships were (as the name implies) primarily for transporting cargo, with a small number of passenger cabins. Express liners (while also carrying some cargo) were primarily built to carry passengers, as quickly as possible, to their destinations. Intermediate liners, like the Carpathia, were intended to have more cargo space (at least as a percentage of capacity) than Express liners, but carried far more passengers than Cargo ships.
Carpathia under construction at the C.S. Swan & Hunter Shipyards
The Carpathia in particular, was originally built to accommodate 200 2nd-Class (aka, Saloon Class) and 600 3rd-Class (aka, Steerage) passengers, and had extensive cargo space designed to transport frozen meat. However, by the time of her maiden voyage, her passenger capacity had increased to about 1,700 (still 2nd & 3rd Classes only).
Despite this “Intermediate” classification, Carpathia’s interiors and passenger accommodations really set a new standard, especially for her Steerage passengers. While on many ships, including otherwise luxurious liners like Norddeutscher Lloyd’s SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, 3rd-Class spaces were spartan and crowded; Steerage passengers on the Carpathia were provided with plain, but undeniably comfortable spaces. Carpathia’s 3rd-class passengers took their meals in a bright, well-ventilated saloon, which was equipped with a piano (as was the 2nd-Class dining saloon) for entertainment. The men had a smoking room to gather and play cards, women & families could socialize in their own sitting room, and the 2 or 4-bunk cabins provided comfort and privacy not often seen on other ships of the day.
3rd Class (Steerage) public space on the Carpathia - I’m not sure if it’s the smoking or sitting room
In a July 4, 1903 article written for The Minneapolis Journal, journalist & playwright Mae Harris Anson, praised the quality of her 2nd-Class accommodations; although she found the cabins somewhat small, they were still larger and more comfortable than comparable staterooms on “large, fast boats”, probably alluding to the so-called Express liners, or older luxury liners like the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.
In fact, comparing illustrations and pictures of Carpathia’s staterooms and public spaces, and comparing to equivalent rooms on Olympic-class liners (there are actually very few pictures from Titanic’s interior, most are from her sister, Olympic); the Carpathia’s spaces are certainly smaller but not drastically inferior to White Star’s luxury liners, that were 10 years her junior.
Eventually, in 1905, Carpathia did undergo a renovation that added 1st-Class cabins & spaces (although these were mostly just 2nd-Class areas that were re-named, and new spaces were constructed for 2nd-Class passengers) and expanded 3rd-Class capacity by converting cargo space to passenger cabins and converting many of the 2-bunk cabins to larger rooms.
Many of these Steerage passengers were Hungarian immigrants; thanks to an arrangement between Cunard and the Hungarian government, the Carpathia and a few of her sister-ships were some of the only vessels providing Hungarian (as well as Italian and other southern/eastern European immigrants) with service to the United States.
On April 11, 1912, the Carpathia left New York, bound for the Mediterranean under the command of Captain Arthur Rostron. Just after midnight on April 15, the Carpathia’s wireless operator, Harold Cottam heard Titanic’s distress call. After rushing to the bridge and alerting the officer on duty, he also went to Captain Rostron’s cabin to make him aware of the situation. Rostron immediately ordered the Carpathia to head for the Titanic’s last known position, ordering the hot water and heating systems to be turned off in order to use all available steam for the engines, and posting extra lookouts to ensure that the Carpathia didn’t suffer her own fatal collision.
Carpathia arrives to rescue the Titanic’s survivors
Unfortunately, despite this heroic dash through iceberg filled waters, Carpathia was simply too far away to arrive before the Titanic went down. Fortunately for the survivors, however, she arrived onsite at 4 a.m. (about 2 hours after the sinking) and brought the freezing & traumatized survivors onboard.
The decision was made to head back to New York, and upon arrival, Captain Rostron and Carpathia’s crew were rightly lauded as heroes. A group of Titanic survivors put together a fund to give each member of the crew a monetary bonus, as well as bronze medals for regular crewmen, silver medals for officers, and a gold medal & silver cup was presented to Captain Rostron by legendary survivor, Margaret Brown.
Captain Arthur Rostron receives a silver cup from Margaret (the Unsinkable Molly) Brown
For Captain Rostron, the accolades didn’t stop there. He was invited to the White House by President Taft, awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the American Cross of Honor, and was knighted by King George V for his service in the Royal Navy Reserve during World War I.
As for how Székely Gulyás fits into this story, well, as mentioned earlier, one of Carpathia’s main duties was transporting Hungarian immigrants, and apparently it was decided to incorporate a bit of a Hungarian flair to their food offerings.
Interestingly, it’s a 2nd Class Tea menu from September 6, 1911 that features Székely Gulyás. I found multiple Tea menus from Cunard liners of the early 20th Century, and all of them are from 2nd Cabin or 2nd Class, which I found interesting. Additionally, most of them seemed to be almost like a brunch menu, with some breakfast items along with heavier dishes like mutton or sausages. The Carpathia’s Tea menu on the other hand seems like a menu for an evening meal, and Mae Harris Anson writes in her Minneapolis Journal article that tea was served from 9 - 10pm! So, the mystery of what exactly Tea meant to the Cunard Line, continues!
Székely Gulyás itself, is also known as Székelykáposzta (Székely Cabbage) in Hungary; although the name is sometimes interpreted to mean that the dish comes from the Székely people of Transylvania, it actually is traced to József Székely (1825 - 1895), a Hungarian writer & archivist. Allegedly, Székely went to his favorite restaurant in Budapest, late one night, and the chef was forced to whip up a dish on the fly, and Székely Gulyás was born.
Despite being thoroughly Hungarian in origin, I was only able to find one period recipe in Hungarian, from Ágnes Zilahy's 1891 Real Hungarian Cookbook (Valódi MagyarSzakácskönyv in Hungarian, if you’re eager to check out some vintage recipes). The recipe, however, is very basic and not overly descriptive, so I decided to look for more sources for inspiration.
What I found was a number of German-language cookbooks, which contained recipes for Székely Gulyás (or in German: Szegediner Gulasch). The dish apparently became quite popular in southern Germany, so I was able to find multiple different recipes from the early 1900s, around the same time that the dish would’ve been served on the Carpathia.
In particular, I took most inspiration from a recipe out of the 1916, Cooking Recipes: Furnished by Prominent Men & Women Abroad and at Home. This is a compilation of submitted recipes, put together by the German & Austro-Hungarian Relief Society of Chicago. Mary Meyer Eigen is the author of the particular recipe from which I chose for my main inspiration. I landed on this recipe, frankly, because it includes a couple more herbs (I touch on those below) than some of the other recipes of the same period, and I appreciate that about Frau Eigen. I also took some inspiration from the Burglisches Wiener Kochbuch (Marie Dorninger, 1906) and the Modernes Kochbuch (Sophie Meissner, 1901).
The recipes all differ somewhat in terms of what herbs and spices to use, and even if additional meats besides pork should be included. Checking against modern recipes, this trend has continued, but there are a few ingredients that are present in every version:
Pork
Sauerkraut
Paprika
Onions
Most versions also include bay leaf, garlic, and caraway seeds (as mine does). My version also includes marjoram (a very common herb in Hungarian cooking) and thyme (common in German cooking). Salt & pepper are also used but, like the old cookbooks, I consider them so ubiquitous, that I don’t bother mentioning them earlier.
I would like to note that some English-language recipes for Székely Gulyás use cumin, instead of caraway. While I love cumin and honestly think it would taste pretty good in Székely Gulyás, I don’t believe that is the spice being referenced in the Hungarian recipes.
The issue comes down to something of a mistranslation. Unfortunately for English-speakers, the Hungarian word “kömény” translates to both “cumin” and “caraway”. However, in this region of Europe, caraway is a much more common, traditional spice than cumin, and is frequently used in other sauerkraut dishes. I could be wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure I’m not.
There also seems to be some disagreement on how much water to use when making Székely Gulyás. Some recipes, especially the older recipes say to add just a little bit of water, and add more as the dish cooks. More modern recipes will say to completely cover the meat with water. I kind of split the difference and used enough water to about 3/4 cover. I think you could even get away with half-covering, although you may need to add a little more depending on how much sauerkraut you add.
Besides the seasonings, some recipes will use beef as well as pork; if you choose to add beef, make sure it’s a cut that will stand up to an hour or more of simmering, like short ribs or something similar. Additionally, some recipes will include bacon, often rendering out the fat from the bacon to cook the onions; this seems like a fantastic idea, because how can you go wrong with adding bacon to something like this?
Speaking of meat, it may seem strange that you don’t sear the meat before cooking the onions, but pretty much every recipe I found, from the 1800s onward instructed the reader to cook the onions, then add the meat. Honestly, the pork turns out so tender, and the sauce has so much flavor, you don’t really miss the sear.
I used 4lbs of sauerkraut in my recipe; however, this may be…a lot for some people. However, my wife loves sauerkraut, so it works for us, and honestly, putting some of that saucy, sauerkraut on toast makes for a damn fine snack.
So, whatever you want to add, however you want to serve it, if you’re a fan of pork, paprika, and sauerkraut, I think you’re really going to enjoy Székely Gulyás!
Székely Gulyás
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
- You can use either all sweet paprika (mild), or a mixture of sweet and half-sharp (spicy) paprika.
- 4lbs of sauerkraut makes for a very krauty dish; use less if you want a higher ratio of meat to kraut.
