Polish Fruit Soup {Zupa Owocowa}

Polish Fruit Soup {Zupa Owocowa}

Ok, I know I say this a lot… but this is one of my all-time favorite dishes. My mom makes an absolute best version of fruit soup, and since she’s here, I have a fast pass to her expertise.  Zupa owocowa in my home was usually made from sour cherries. Babcia Stasia had a big great tree in the garden behind her apartment that produced buckets upon buckets of this sour fruit. Eating them straight off the tree was always such a delicious challenge. First few bites would throw my salivary glands into a frenzy – if you’ve ever had sour cherries, you know exactly what I mean.  After that, I could down about a gallon. Dark red, soft fruit was so juicy and soft leaving my fingers and lips stained for the rest of the day.

We picked the fruit off standing on the ladder diligently, so nothing gets left behind (if we didn’t, grandma would climb up the tree herself, and we all know what that means). We delivered buckets to her small kitchen where they would then be put into jars for “kompot” (stewed fruit with sugar, consumed as juice) and stored away for the winter. There would be enough to last until the next season. Every time we had a hankering for a refreshing juice or fruit soup, a quick trip to the cool cellar downstairs and nearly endless supply of “kompot” quickly satisfied the craving.

Sadly, I don’t have a sour cherry tree, but strawberries are in season and paired with rhubarb they will deliver slightly sour, sweet and creamy taste of fruit soup similar to sour cherry fruit soup.

We ate this soup hot or cold, depending on the weather outside or our mood. I love it both ways. As any Polish food, it seems it tastes better the next day, so no worries if you have leftovers or if make it one day and serve the next.

I hope you venture out of your “normal” and explore this unusual and tasty Polish dish. Let me know if you know this dish in comments below.

Happy exploring and smacznego!

Anna