Cherry Soup Season

One of my beloved annual food rituals is cherry soup.   Every year, in the brief and glorious season of cherries, around the summer solstice, I make a batch and it never fails to elicit moans of delight from anyone who is lucky enough to try it (once I managed to make enough to feed a wedding party, and most recently had the supreme thrill of eating it in a cave).  I would have never thought of such a thing on my own (it's a French idea, of course) but I found it in one of my most influential early cookbooks, Anna Thomas' The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two.  This Sunday the Chronicle ran a recipe in the food section, calling for a whole bottle of white wine and lemongrass, but I prefer the simpler version below. 

In Chinese medicine, cherries are described as warming and sweet, are said to strengthen the spleen qi and heart blood, "prevent involuntary seminal emission," and are a remedy for arthritis and gout.  They just might help you sleep a little better around the solstice when the long days make us want to stay up late. Their deep red color indicates the presence of iron and lots of antioxidants, needed right now when the sun is so high, and the color is certainly a big part of the appeal of this soup, especially when you drizzle it with creme fraiche and garnish it with a few yellow and pink Rainier cherries for contrast.

Cold Cherry Soup
Adapted from The Vegetarian Epicure, Book 2 by Anna Thomas (1980).

2 1/2 lbs.  sweet dark cherries
5 cups water
2-4 tablespoons evaporated cane juice
1/3 cup white wine
juice of 2 lemons
dash sea salt
creme fraiche, for serving (make your own for extra brownie points)

Pit the cherries and put them in a large soup pot along with the sugar and the water.   Bring to a boil and simmer about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender, or allow to cool and puree in a regular blender.   Add the wine, lemon juice and salt.  Chill the soup.   Serve dolloped with creme fraiche, as a first course or dessert.