Cherry Soup is a dish that is popular among several Eastern European countries, including Austria, Poland, Slovaks, Eastern Germany, Hungary and parts of Russia. www.soupsong.com/zjuly01.html As in most basic dishes that vary by country, often the differences are a matter of local ingredients. There seems to be a thread that runs through them: if they originated further north, the more often sour cream is the creamy element. The further south, the more likely the creaminess is from yoghurt.www.soupsong.com/zjuly01.html

There are even differences on when the soup is to be served. In Hungary, it's sometimes a main course; in Scandinavia, it's served before the first course. In some regions, meat is included in the soup. In others, it's thickened by boiling dumplings or noodles in it; in others, cornstarch or flour is used. And sometimes, a combination of meat, noodles, and cherries is used, which might be a holdover from similar dishes in the Middle Ages.www.soupsong.com/zjuly01.html

The basic ingredients that persist across recipes are sour cherries, cinnamon, an alcoholic element, and a creamy element. Sometimes cloves are added; sometimes lemon juice.

This Mahalo How To will show you how to do two variations of Cherry Soup: classic Meggyleves from Hungary and a German cherry soup.

The Hungarian version of Cherry Soup is probably the best-known variation.jewishwebindex.com/jewish_cooking1.htm It uses all the basic elements of sour cherries, cinnamon, a creamy element, and alcohol. It also uses citrus juice, which is not unusual for cherry soups.

• 1 lb. Fresh sour cherries—alternately, 1 ½ 24.oz jars of pitted Morello cherries in juice, but you need the pits
• 2 cups water
• 3” cinnamon stickwww.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Hungarian-Chilled-Cherry-Soup
• 2 cloves
• 1/3 cup red wine, ideally Hungarian
• 1/3 cup sugar
• about 2 tablespoons lemon juice (the juice of half a lemon)www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/SOUPS/Cherry_Soup_Hungarian_-_dairy.html
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg yolkwww.soupsong.com/rcherry.html
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• extra cream for garnishing

In a large saucepan, combine the cherries and the water or juice. Begin bringing it to a boil while you wrap the cherries in a cloth bag. Give them a few good whacks with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer so they crack a little. Open the bag, add the cinnamon stick and cloves, re-close and add to the pot. Alternately, you can add the cinnamon and cloves directly to the pot, but be aware you're going to have to fish them out again before serving. The cherry pits will heighten the cherry flavor but you can omit them if you're using canned cherries.

While stirring, add the lemon juice, wine, sugar and salt. Cover and let it simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

When done, take off the lid and stir again. Using a slotted spoon, remove half the cherries and set aside. Remove the spice bag. Use an immersion blender, if you have one, to puree the soup; or do it in a regular blender.

Return the soup to the pot and add the reserved cherries, stirring them in. The burner should still be on the very lowest setting. In the bowl you had the reserved cherries in, put the cream. Use a whisk to beat in the egg yolk. Again, using the whisk, pour the egg/cream mixture into the soup in a thin stream. This thickens the soup, so keep stirring. If it boils, the egg will set up, so just keep whisking until you can tell the soup is getting thicker. Immediately remove from the burner and put it somewhere to cool. When it's no longer hot, you can pour it into a serving dish, cover it, and put it in your refrigerator to chill, but if you do this too soon or fail to cover it, an unattractive skin will form over the top.

When ready to serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls. Pour a little cream onto the top of each portion and swirl it with a spoon to form an attractive pattern.www.kitchenchick.com/2009/07/chilled-cherry-soup.html

Russian Zup iz Vishnya is very similar to the recipe above. Double the amount of cherries; substitute champagne for the wine; reduce the lemon juice to one tablespoon and add ¼ cup of orange juice. Add an extra clove and double the water and sugar. Boil half the cherries longer, until they are very soft. Puree and return to pot, adding reserved cherries and adding the champagne, juices, and orange zest and simmer for 10 more minutes. Cool. No egg is used in this recipe, and sour cream is used as a garnish at serving. The cherries themselves are so thick that no additional thickening is needed.www.soupsong.com/rcherry2.html

German-style Cherry Soup: In the German version, only half the cherry pits are crushed, but all are put into the spice bag. Black cherries are used, as well as lemon juice and lemon zest. The wine is a white, sweeter wine, and a couple of tablespoons of [[[brandy]] are added at the end. Sometimes German versions double the wine; sometimes instead of sour cream or yoghurt they use the creamy quark peculiar to Germany. The Swiss even add tiny chips of chocolate; and the Austrian version is closer to the German version than to the Hungarian, even though the country is closer to Hungary.www.recipezaar.com/Chilled-German-Black-Cherry-Soup-305147