Trying to find name of polish soup (szczawiowa)

My gran used to make a polish soup which was pronounced something like "stjaff" or "chjaff". I think the name of the soup was also the name of plant it was made from and the soup had a slightly sour taste to it. Thanks for any help and sorry for my lack of knowledgeon the name.

Szczaw (sorrel) (shchav)

Zupa Szczawiowa

1/2 lb. sorrel
1 Tbls. butter
3 Tbls. water
4 cups strained meat stock
3-4 Tbls. flour
2 cups milk
2 raw egg yolks
1 Tbls. soft butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Wash well 1/2 lb. sorrel, trim away the stems, chop, and add to a skillet along with 1 Tbls. butter and 3 Tbls. water. Simmer on low heat under cover for 10 minutes.

Force mixture through a sieve into 4 cups strained meat stock and simmer a few minutes longer. Dissolve 3-4 Tbls. flour in 2 cups milk and add to the pot. Simmer briefly, the remove from heat. Fork-blend 2 raw egg yolks with 1 Tbls. soft butter, adding several tablespoons soup and stirring until smooth. Add to the pot. Salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve over hard-boiled egg slices. Instead of the eggs, it may be served over rice or with croutons!

can regular Spinach be used?

Ok thanks for help. I am amazed that you could work out what i meant from my rubbish go at spelling it. Now that i know what the soup is called and that the plant used is sorrel i can have a go at making the soup. One last question what type of sorrel should i use?

I though there was only one type, but I might be wrong, use what's available. In Poland you can buy it at teh market, I son't know where you are..

or you can pick it.it grows naturally in a bit acid soil.just remember to wash it before cooking:)

Yumm, I think I'll make some for dinner today. Thanks I was going out of my mind what soup to make today. :)

I make sorrel soup almost the same way as beet soup. I grow sorrel leaves in my garden. You may be able to buy them in a Polish market.Just cut up the washed leaves dust them with a little flour and put them in boiling chicken stock, let them cook for a few minutes, add a few chopped hard boiled eggs, some sour cream at the end. Hope this helps helen

you can use spinach. i use it, as i have never seen sorrel in the uk.
does anyone know where to get sorrel in london? thanks

That's quite interesting because I cannot recall if I have eve seen Sorrel in a shop. I buy many herbs but can't remember seeing Sorrel. I am going to ask at Waitrose tomorrow lol. <only because they pride themselves in having all the fresh herbs in their stores >

I'll let you know what they say. I'd have thought you could have bought it in London though ?

Merged: Zupa Szczawiowa Recipe??

My daughter wanted to make real ( Polish version ) potaoe and cheese perogis made with farmers cheese today and it's so hard to find a good true Polish recipe the way I remember my Baci used to make until I found it on here. I wished I paid alot more attention to when she was cooking.....I really miss old fashion Polish cooking. Another favorite recipe my Baci used to make for me was Sorrel soup. She used to call it spinach or sour grass soup but was really Sorrel.....she used to grow it in the back yard. It had a sour taste but was wonderful in her soup. Does anyone have a recipe for that they would like to share? If so, would so much appreciate it. Just brings me back.

check out Smaczniego on yahoo groups...it is a Food forum and has Robert Strybel who wrote Polish Heritage Cookery as a member. there are many recipes to choose from or someone will get you one.

I make mine with some chicken or pork stock if you want you can use just water add the chopped sorrel leaves salt, pepper to taste put in cubed potatoes cook till done,add chopped boiled eggs and sour cream. I don't measure and it will depend on how much you want to make. Hope this helps. Helena