Ice-Cold Schav

By Gabrielle Hamilton

Ice-Cold Schav
Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(228)
Comments
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Nothing revives and refreshes in a heat wave like this ice-cold schav, made with the exceptionally tart herb sorrel. The soup is seasoned at each stage: You salt the sweating shallots, the cooking potatoes, again when you add the sorrel and finally again when all is combined, which seems like a lot of salt. But once the mixture is chilled, the flavors are masked and dulled so it will taste just right. Using the stems of herbs is a habit I've formed in general, but in the case of sorrel I wish it were an herb all on its own — that you could just buy sorrel stems. I've seen Instagrammable versions of the soup with the egg cut into pristine wedges and bright green watercress substituted for drab muddy sorrel, but I think the way to go here is without vanity: Scatter well-chopped hard-boiled egg liberally over the drab soup, and follow with the minced stems, also liberally. 

Featured in: The Pleasure of a Chilled Soup on a Sweltering Day

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 4tablespoons butter
  • 1medium shallot, peeled and finely minced
  • 1large russet potato, peeled and trimmed into the shape of a rectangular box, then small-diced. Mince the scraps from boxing as fine as the shallots
  • Kosher salt
  • 3cups water
  • ½pound sorrel, stems removed but saved, leaves washed and cut into 1-inch ribbons
  • 4hard-boiled eggs
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

273 calories; 16 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 920 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Melt butter in nonreactive soup pot. Sweat shallot and minced potato scraps in the butter slowly, stirring gently. Season with salt.

  2. Step 2

    Put diced potatoes in the water, season with salt and bring to a boil. Simmer potatoes until perfectly cooked, a couple of minutes only. Taste one cube to determine.

  3. Step 3

    Add sorrel to sweating shallot-potato mixture, and season with salt. Stir and wilt the sorrel, which will happen almost instantly, turning drab immediately.

  4. Step 4

    Add the cooked potatoes and their salty water to the pot of sorrel. Season with salt, if needed, keeping in mind that when chilled, the flavors are dulled significantly.

  5. Step 5

    Chill immediately and thoroughly — overnight even.

  6. Step 6

    Chop the hard-boiled eggs, and scatter in the cold soup. Mince half the reserved stems from the sorrel as you would chives, and sprinkle over soup.

Ratings

4 out of 5
228 user ratings
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Comments

tina

I grew up on this soup, and I love it. My Russian mother always added sour cream, and chopped cucumber in addition to the egg.

Claire McIntosh

The best dishes are served with memories.

Janelle Meehan

The first and last paragraphs of this piece are pure poetry. I could feel the heat described in the first as well as the sorrow and lack of hope in the last. I almost never read the recipe articles in the NYT because I've stopped trying to replicate the dishes. Too much trouble, too many ingredients, no interest - take your pick. This piece was about so much more than the food.

Austin Val

Refreshing and delicious. I will say (i) washing the sorrel (purchased at my farmers market) was a CHORE, and (ii) the additional time spent trimming the russet potato "into the shape of a rectangular box" was definitely not worth it (or necessary, for a home cook anyway).

Jessica

a half pound of sorrel is a *lot* of sorrel. 100 good-sized leaves by my count. I never have that much at once. I made this with ~35 leaves, keeping other amounts the same, and used whey instead of water. Whey boils at a lower temperature, so be warned, the potatoes cook slowly (I'm at 5300 feet and it took ~25 min, 3x as long as with water) so you lose liquid, and it boils over easily. That said, after I added in some chicken broth to replace the lost liquid, it got great reviews.

WendyK

I much prefer to maintain the vibrant green of the sorrel so I never heat it- which turns it so muddy looking. I like to throw it in the blender with the the cooked portion of the recipe. I also make a vichyssoise type soup, again throwing everything in the blender with a few handfuls of raw sorrel and a bit of cream. A bit of fresh Lovage is a wonderful addition.

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