Got a good goulash recipe?

[Bandwagonesque]

I've always been curious about trying this, but not knowing any Hungarians, I'm unsure about how to make it. Some recipes say to include tomatoes, others say no tomatoes whatsoever. Some call for flour, when others say to use potato. Some call for a few teaspoonfuls of paprika. Other's call for half a cup. Sweet or spicy? I don't think I've seen so much variety in how to cook what I thought was a "national dish".

I have a few pounds of cubed lean beef thawing in the fridge - what's your best goulash recipe?

 

[Mentos]

I don't have any good recipe, but as far as the variety of preparations, goulash is sort of like gumbo--it's a daily staple in the culture and you just throw in whatever needs to be used before it goes bad. You can't really say a given preparation is "true"--if it tastes good, it's fine. If you were in Hungary, you would only have access to certain ingredients, and that would be your only limitation on what to put in. Plus lots of paprika.