Trying to find name of polish soup

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 ?