Hungary are one of the historical super powers of world football having reached two World Cup finals (1938 & 1954) and two European Championships semi-finals (1964 & 1972).
Despite that they have struggled recently, but this year marks their return to major finals with a team spearheaded by forward Adam Szalai. Here’s hoping the ‘Magical Magyars’ can put up a good showing!
When I visited Budapest a few years ago I really enjoyed the food- schnitzel, langos and of course, goulash! But for my Euro 2020 special I fancied trying something I hadn’t had before, so after a bit of research decided to go for Meggyleves- a traditional Hungarian summer dish of chilled sour cherry soup.
Every recipe I found was pretty unique- so I’ve gone for a version that’s quite simple and relatively healthy, as a lot of the others added a ton of sugar!
Ingredients(Serves 2):
- 350g of dark cherries pitted
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 extra thick slice of lemon
- 1/4 tsp clove
- 150g sour cream
- Pinch salt
Method:
- Add the cherries to a large pot along with 100ml of water (or cherry juice for extra intense flavour), lemon cinnamon stick and ground clove and bring to the boil.
- Once the cherries have softened a bit, reduce the heat and simmer for around 5-10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let the cherry mix cool a bit.
- Take around 50ml of the juice and mix in a bowl with the sour cream.
- Once everything has fully cooled, mix the sour cream into the soup pan.
- Put in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and lemon
- Dish up into soup bowls.
- Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a mint leaf.
This was super tasty and pretty different- it reminded me of chilled, creamy, mulled wine. There are tons of variations on this recipe so why not try some out and find your own favourite this summer.
World Cup Dinners 