is a slightly sweet soup made with sour cream, sugar and whole fresh sour cherries, served chilled [with a dollop of sweet cream]. Sometimes cloves and cinnamon are added. The dish originates from Hungary, and is a summer delicacy throughout Europe, particularly Austria, Poland, Slovakia, and Germany . . .
In Hungarian cuisine, meggyleve soup is made from the fruits of a sour cherry tree (Prunus cerasus), and not from sweet cherries. The name is formed from meggy meaning ‘sour-cherries’, and leves meaning ‘soup’. The dish is traditionally served as a dinner course, usually as either the appetizer, soup or dessert dish, on warm summer nights or for hot summer luncheons. In preparation, whole sour cherries are cooked and their pits are included.
Sour cherry trees are numerous in Hungary, and Meggyleve is considered a good example of the quintessentially Hungarian fusion of Eastern/Asian influences with traditional Continental European cuisine.
According to Adeena Sussman’s article at “My Jewish learning”(see link below), “the tradition of eating dairy products on Shavuot has ushered in an entire menu of delicious dishes for Hungarian Jews.”
Shavuot, Origin: Hebrew, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, falls in the Hebrew month Sivan, which usually coincides with May or June.
[The holiday] often coincided with [Hungary’s] prolific sour cherry harvest. Ask someone with Hungarian ancestry about their favorite foods, and invariably sour cherry soup is among them. “We would eat it during the summer months,” said Miri Abraham, a friend of mine who used to visit her Hungarian grandmother, Emma, in Israel during summer vacations. “It was always part of a dairy meal.”
“A bit about sour cherries vs. cherries in general (from Melanie’s Kitchen (see link below): Sour cherries should not be confused with their cousins, the reddish-black Bing cherry and the peachy-blush Rainier cherry. These two sweet cherries (which are larger and firmer than sour cherries) are great for eating “as is” like any other fresh fruit, but they do not make for great baked desserts. When sour cherries are cooked, they become quite sweet, plus, they hold their shape better than their sweet relatives. Sour cherries are a bit too tart to eat more than just a few out-of-hand, but they make superb preserves, pies and cobblers.”
A Personal Note– Years ago, while studying law at Charles Univeristy in Prague, a friend insisted that a group of us take a train ride from The Czech Republic to the Hungarian capital- Budapest, during a summer holiday, largely to sample this soup. This friend had visited Budapest years before with her family and tasted the soup at a well know resurtant. She insisted that our summer experience in Central Europe would not be complete without trying Hideg Meggyleve at least once.
So, one hot July, the very next day after arriving in Budapest, a group of us went Meggyleve-tasting and were all pleasantly surprised. None of us disliked the experience. After a rich meal of Meggyleve and Goulash, with Hungarian breads and wines, we went sightseeing and ended the day with a trip to Margaret Island, (Margitsziget) and attended an outdoor performance of the ballet-Giselle- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giselle The end of a perfect summer day.
Recipes and references
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/recipe/sour-cherry-soup/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cherry_soup https://www.bitchinfrommelanieskitchen.com/2015/07/-hungarian-sour-cherry-soup-hideg-meggyleves-.html https://www.bing.com/search?q=Maragrit+island+Budapest++hungary&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=maragrit+island+budapest+hungary&sc=0-32&sk=&cvid=2921C595E5D14022A216DCD6C8DCCDA5 https://dailynewshungary.com/recipe-of-the-week-sour-cherry-soup/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giselle
FOOD FROM ABROAD 