Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1987-07-01 / 7. szám
ÍElje (Euitnarg JVrt of ^Mungarg COLD CHERRY SOUP (8 Servings) IV2 pounds sour cherries, pitted 6 cups water 1 2-inch piece cinnamon stick 6 to 8 whole cloves Vi teaspoon nutmeg Small pinch mace IV2 cups granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with V2 cup cold water 2 1-inch squares lemon rind Juice of V2 lemon V2 lemon, sliced wafer thin 1 or 2 drops red food coloring (optional) 1 cup sour cream 1 cup buttermilk 1. Place a large sieve over a soup pot. Pour the pitted cherries into the sieve, straining the juice into the pot. Add the 6 cups of water to the pot, pouring it over the cherries. Remove the cherries from the sieve and refrigerate them. Add all spices,• sugar, and lemon rind (not the lemon juice or wafer-thin slices of lemon) to the pot and bring to a boil. Add starch mixture very slowly, and keep stirring until it dissolves. 2. Boil the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; let it stand, covered, in a warm place for 1 hour. Strain the liquid and discard the spices and lemon rind. Add the cherries. Cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. 3. Gently fold the sour cream into the buttermilk. To serve, put the sour creambuttermilk mixture into the soup tureen and, using a wire whip, gently whip the soup, cup by cup, into it. Float lemon slices on top of the soup. Serve very cold as a first course. Keeping the pitted sour cherries in the refrigerator keeps them firm and prevents overcooking. Letting the soup stand for 1 hour slowly dilutes the spice oils, which flavor the soup after the spices themselves have been discarded. Mixing the sour cream with the buttermilk makes the sour cream lighter and tastier, and it mixes more easily with the soup. CHERRY STRUDEL In most U.S. cities, filo leaves — the closest thing to the real Hungarian strudel dough — are available, sometimes fresh, other times refrigerated, but mostly frozen. And because the use of filo dough is spreading rapidly, I am sure that wherever you live you will be able to purchase some to make this cherry strudel. Ingredients: 1 pound sour pitted cherries About 1 cup sugar (omit if you use frozen pitted sour cherries which are frozen with sugar) Pinch of cinnamon V2 cup breadcrumbs V2 cup ground almonds If you wish, you may mix sour pitted cherries with pitted Bing cherries. Defrost filo dough (iffrozen), according to package directions. Lay in front of you two leaves on each other with their longer side along the edge of the table. Melt ‘A cup unsalted butter, and sprinkle the surface of the dough with some of the butter. Then sprinkle the whole surface with part of ‘A cup dry fine bread crumbs mixed with 'A cup ground almonds. Place two more filo dough sheets in front of you, so that they are approximately 4 inches away from the edge of the table. Repeat sprinkling them with some of the melted butter and some of the bread crumb/almond mixture. Distribute the sour pitted cherry filling over about half the surface closer to you. Be sure that it is spread evenly. Carefully start to roll the strudel dough — holding it gently but firmly away from you — in a loose, jelly roll fashion. When you get so far that the whole cherry filling is covered, then sprinkle with some of the remaining butter and crumbs that part of the dough that covers the filling, and keep rolling until the entire dough is rolled out. Be sure that the seam is on the bottom. Lift the strudel onto a well-buttered baking sheet with the help of a wide-bladed metal spatula. Brush the top with the remaining butter and bake in a very hot oven, 425° to 450°, for about 25 minutes. This is not an easy technique, but if every young girl in Europe can learn it, why can’t you? If you first lay out a tablecloth or other clean cloth on the table, and put the strudel dough on it, you will have a much easier task. I taught this often to beginners, with or without the cloth, and some people could do it and some couldn’t manage it. * * * * If you want to make your own strudel dough “from scratch’’, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Louis Szathmary, The Bakery Restaurant, 2218 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, 1L. 60614 and we will mail it to you. JULY 1987 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 25
