Sorrel (Eastern European tchav) has been made a little more soigné in the hands of the French, by adding herbs and cream. Whereas Jews often substituted spinach and rhubarb to achieve the tangy flavor when they couldn’t get sorrel, and ate the soup cold, the French, until recently, ate sorrel soup hot. Austin de Croze, in his 1931 cookbook, What to Eat and Drink in France, thought that sorrel soup had come to France with emigrants from eastern Europe. This particular recipe comes from Gastronomie Juive: Cuisine et Patisserie de Russie, d’Alsace, de Roumanie et d’Orient, by Suzanne Roukhomovsky, a book I found years ago while browsing in the Librairie Gourmande, a cookbook store I love to frequent on the Left Bank of Paris. Published by the distinguished house of Flammarion in 1929, it was the first comprehensive cookbook on the Jews of France. Madame Roukhomovsky, also a novelist and poet, called French Jewish cooking cuisine maternelle. This recipe surely has its roots in her own Russian background. If you can’t find sorrel, substitute 1 pound of spinach or kale with 1/2 cup rhubarb to attain that tart flavor, as Jews from Russia did.

　　

Ingredients

4 to 6 servings

　　2 tablespoons unsalted butter

　　1 leek, diced

　　1 onion, diced

　　1 pound sorrel, tough stems removed, and leaves finely chopped

　　2 cloves garlic, minced

　　2 tablespoons lemon juice

　　1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

　　Freshly ground pepper

　　1/2 cup sour cream or crème fraîche

　　2 hard-boiled eggs (optional)

　　2 cups croutons

　　1 English cucumber, thinly sliced

　　

Step 1

Heat a stockpot, melt the butter, and scatter the leek and onion on top, sautéing until the onion is transparent. Pour in 4 cups water, and bring to a boil. Add the sorrel, garlic, lemon juice, and salt and pepper (about 5 twists of the pepper mill). Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat.

　　

Step 2

Once the soup has cooled for about 10 minutes, purée, and serve warm with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche, or as a cold soup, the way Jews coming to France from Russia did: finely chop the hard-boiled eggs, and stir them into the soup; cool completely in the refrigerator, and serve cold, garnished with the croutons, cucumber slices, and a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche.

　　Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous