Sour cherry soup is a slightly sweet

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

made with

sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

and whole fresh sour cherries, and served chilled. Originating in

Hungarian cuisine Hungarian or Magyar cuisine (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Magyar konyha'') is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary, and its primary ethnic group, the Hungarians, Magyars. Hungarian cuisine has been described as being the P ...

, this soup is a summer delicacy in several European cuisines. The dish has been adopted by the

Austrians Austrians (, ) are the citizens and Nationality, nationals of Austria. The English term ''Austrians'' was applied to the population of Archduchy of Austria, Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, ...

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

, and

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

. Hungarian-Americans and Hungarian-Canadians brought the soup to North America.June Meyers, ''Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes'' In Hungarian cuisine, sour cherry soup or ''meggyleves'' is a soup made from the fruits of the sour cherry tree (''Prunus cerasus''), and not from sweet cherries. The name is formed from 'sour cherries,' and meaning 'soup.' It is traditionally served as a dinner course, usually as either the appetizer,

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

, on warm summer nights or for hot summer luncheons. The soup is cooked with whole sour cherries, including the pits. Sour cherry trees are numerous in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and the soup is a good example of the quintessentially Hungarian fusion of Eastern/Asian influences and traditional

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

an cuisine. It is customary that the soup contain fresh sour cherries, fresh cream and sometimes cloves and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

. Canned regular cherries are sometimes added and sour cream is often substituted for fresh cream. A small amount of sweet white or dry red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

is also sometimes added before serving. Packets of dried powder are also sold in Hungary.

References

Hungarian desserts Austrian cuisine German soups Slovak soups Cold soups Cherry dishes Vegetarian cuisine Appetizers Sour cherries Romani cuisine {{Slovakia-cuisine-stub

See also

References