Oh wow! I finally got around to reading this entry, never having heard of ACS and thinking Goulash was some sort of stew thing. When I read the description, I about fell off of my bed (gotta love laptops) when I yelled "She's talking about Gumgluck!" My mother grew up in Philadelphia (Go Eagles) and she used to make that for me when I was little. I always hated it, for some reason. I think I figured out later in life that I like my tomato sauce more acidic than what the Gumgluck ended up being. My mother is a wonderful cook, but that was not my favorite thing. Thanks for the post!

I'm coming a little late to the discussion, here, but I've never even heard the words "American Chop Suey" said together.

And Mo's in Oregon serves "slumgullion," which is clam chowder with steamed bay shrimp strewn across the top of the chowder bowl (and is TO DIE FOR).

But that hamburger/canned tomatoes/onion/peppers/pasta thing sounds pretty good, actually. Never had it that I can remember.

Our bare cupboard stand-by when I was a kid was "tuna 'n noodles".

I grew up in Maine & Massachusetts and your definition is exactly what we called American Chop Suey...and we ate a lot of it!!

My Dad, from The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, says American Chop Suey is made with green peppers, tomato soup, ground beef, onions, elbow macaroni, um, I think that's all. All ingredients are essential.

Denise calls this same concoction "Glop in the Pot".

Glad you're still loving your pot. I'm in love with your mittens. All these mittens all over the place are making me want to do another pair.

As for the food in question... My mom always called it American Chop Suey. I called it "Awwww, not that again?!!?"

They called it Johnny Marzetti in the school cafeteria - don't ask me why, but it sure wasn't spaghetti. In NE Ohio, anyway. And Chop Suey came in a can, but your Mom made the minute rice to serve with it herself!

Goulash (my father called it epicurian delight) was elbow macaroni, tinned tomatoes, hamburger, onions, and cheese. I've had enough of that stuff, my mom was ill a lot when I was a child and would make pounds of it at a whack and we'd eat it out of the freezer until it was gone.
Chop suey was something we bought in a can at the grocery store and had La Choy written on it. As I understand, Chop Suey was invented in America and isn't really a Chinese dish at all so wouldn't it all be american chop suey?

Hi, found my way over here from Norma's blog. In my family goulash is a noodle, hamburger, tomato-y concoction. Chop suey was a veggie thing in a light clear-like sauce. Never heard of anything being called American chop suey before... but then I'm an Army brat... spent a good portion of my youth in the South... my mom is from NY and my dad is from Iowa. So I grew up eating all sorts of odd things... peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, S.O.S., etc.

I'm from Nebraska, and Macaroni/Hamb/Tomato Sauce (plus onions, sans peppers) has always been goulash.

But, my mom, who also grew up here, says that when she was growing up, goulash was when you dumped together all the leftovers in the fride to make a soup like thing.

No debate; I grew up in the same part of the country as you and it's American Chop Suey. And it has to have green peppers in it.
Also, it tastes better if you have a frappe with it (which is NOT the same as a milk shake).

I've never heard of either of the tasty entrees that you mention. To me goulash is potatoes and meat.
ACS sounds (sorry!) gross. :)

do Canadian's get to vote too? we make our goulash with hamburger,tomato soup,green pepper and kraft dinner(made already)
chop suey is chinese food,bean sprouts,chicken,yadda yadda,hmm i'm getting hungry

Being of Hungarian heritage, Goulash is a yummy, spicy beef stew. Perfect for these damp, foggy, cold New England days.

The macaroni, tomato, hamburger dish IS American Chop Suey.

Kat in Boston
(Now I'm hungry, guess I'll make stew tonight)

Your tomato/macaroni/hamburger is what we Nevadans/Montanans called chili mac. Our goulash had potatoes, hamburger and onions. When I went to college, I learned that Texans/New Mexicans called macaroni and cheese and a can of chili all mixed together chili mac.

Well I grew up in the south, but my mom was from New Hampshire and we always assumed it was from there cuz we never heard it anywhere else, but we called it "slum gullion". Descriptive.

For years I thought I didn't like goulash because that was the name my mother used for that mess. On the other hand her spaghetti sauce takes eight hours and is superb.

Via Girls Scouts in Connecticut, American Chop Suey was the macaroni, hamburger, onion, sloppy thing. Goulash to me involves beef and potatoes/carrots, seasonings and a rich brown gravy-type thing. I save cassarole for the things-with-rice-you-bake dishes. Slop is reserved for things like sloppy joe stuff or creamed chipped beef. Like the crap reminiscent of the cafeteria that was "slopped" on toast or your tray

My dinner's called take out!

Wow! The score now stands at
American Chop Suey: 5
Goulash: 5
Slop:1
Casserole:2
Other more colorful names: 5
It looks as if there are as many names for it as there is ways to cook it!
I love it!

Had never heard of ACS, we're a goulash kind of people, macaroni, canned tomatos, hamburger, onion and celery (not green peppers). Perhaps its a heritage thing? Anyway every Minnesotan I know calls it goulash, and it is a form of hotdish.

My husband and I just had this argument. He grew up with goulash--macaroni, tomato sauce and hamburg---not too good. I grew up with American Chop Suey---macaroni, chopped fresh tomatoes, onion, green peppers, and hamburg---absolutely delicious! So its ACS at our house and don't even mention the G-word to me!!

I am with you Sandy that is ACS. My Mom made it all the time growing up. It was a good budget meal to feed our big family. Love that mitten!!!

I've never heard it called ACS either. LoL Goulash here too!

You people are all whacked. Not surprisingly here in Canada goulash is goulash (the hungarian food...with potatoes, not macaroni) and we don't eat American Chop Suey...and what you are describing is clearly what my mother would have called "homemade hamburger helper" at home, and "Hamburger Cassarole" in front of company. (Or if you added fresh parsely. That ups the class level.)

The mitten is beautiful, and I too still think about the ending of Life Of Pi all the time....it was sadder the way the author did it. Anything else would have been....well. I don't know.
Unbelivable?

I grew up in Ontario and never ate that dish, although I knew families who did, and I think they just called it spaghetti. If my mom had ever cooked it (she would have had to force it down my throat, like she did with all beef dishes) she likely would have called it casserole.

I haven't read "Life of Pi" yet but I do remember reading an interesting review in which it was compared with Timothy Findley's "Not Wanted on the Voyage" (not favourably; the reviewer said that Not Wanted contained not only a bigger boat but also a more profound discussion of God and a more interesting cat). Anyway, thought I'd toss that in the goulash pot,you should try the Findley if you haven't already. I'm putting Pi on my list for next summer, I think.

I've never heard of ACS either! I'm from Upstate NY and it was definitely Goulash there. I believe that's the original Hungarian name... and once the dish became American-ized, the name of it probably did too.

I grew up in northern NH and ACS meant macaroni, hamburg, tomato sauce. But my husband, who grew up in upstate New York, insists that it's goulash. ;) Now my kids love the vegetarian version, made with Boca crumbles instead of meat...we haven't yet given that a special name! (But Slop might be good.)

ASC is what we called it in Pennsylvania. I make it for my kids with celery, onion, turkey, sauce, noodles - then to make it less bland - chile powder, brown sugar, garlic salt and lots of parm! (Sounds heavenly to me right now because I am doing the low-carb thing!)

I've never heard of ACS, and goulash was a meat dish with paprika when I was a kid. But what you're describing is just a meat gravy, to a Brooklyn Italian.

Chris calls it MEAT AND POTATOES??? Is she daft? (just kidding you, Chris!) ;-)

Good morning girlie! I had never even heard of American Chop Suey before that late night (early morning?) discussion at Rhinebeck. It's Goulash over here in Idaho.

That mitten is SO fantastic! You are one insprirational knitter, sugardoodle.

Thanks for the hugs. Right back at ya. xxooxxoo

BTW, I love the mitten!

My mom just called it hamburger casaroll....boring and I haven't eaten it since she made it. Oh, for the good ol' days.

The ending of Life of Pi is still with me a year later. I'm still not sure what I think. Makes for good discussion though.

I too thought it was a compelling read.

Meat and potatoes. But when I was little our Lasagna was called Jumbletti. Egg noodles in place of lasagna noodles. Tomato Soup in place of Tomato Sauce. Just the thought of eating it today, ick.

I say it's American Chop Suey. In college, I worked in the archives, and at one point ended up going through and conserving the school menus and the trainers' recipes from the 1950s. It was called American Chop Suey there, and that night, they served the same thing in the dining hall.

A former boss called it "slop" so that's what I've called it ever since. There's nothing quite as nice as having slop for dinner. Comfort food at its best, I say!

The macaroni dish you described was called spaghetti at my house since my mother bought macaroni noodles, elbow macaroni in fact, instead of spaghetti.

Well, now, my Sandy, you had me ROFL with this one, and it seems that you have some pictorial evidence that YOU are right. Well, even there it says we BOTH are right. Whatever it is, it tastes good and hits the spot as comfort food, even for a food snob like me. But not that creamed-corn/boiled hamburger/canned bean sprout version that my sister's MIL made. THAT was just plain vile. Vile, I tell you. Vile.

Just had ACS tonight for dinner. Yum! Ours has always been onion, celery, pork, bean sprouts, mushrooms, bead molasses, soy sauce, thickened with corn starch, over rice.

One more comment - my husband is from Minnesota. They call anything like ACS "hotdish." It usually calls for a can of cream of something soup. His sister sent me a church cookbook once and 80% of the recipes has a can of cream of something, jello or cool whip in it :p
Li

The ending of Pi made for some good discussion in our house. I'm not sure I liked it either.
Li