"It's something my grandmother made on Saturdays to take with us to the beach on Sunday," says Zork Gábor Hun, a former chef from Budapest who now lives in Canada. "I don't think that the soup, or indeed the very concept, is known outside Hungary," he says.

That's a pity. On hot afternoons, this creamy, tart delicacy provides a pleasant respite from the usual summer fare of salad or gazpacho.

Not everyone will take readily to the unexpected taste, though, as Hun discovered when he tried to introduce the soup to the residents of Hamilton, Ontario. "It was a total disaster. I opened a trendy kind of restaurant in the trashiest working-class city in Canada," he recalls. "The cherry soup was, of course, on the menu, but I don't think anybody ever ordered it on his own initiative. It was probably just too weird for them."

Meggyleves, which can be served as an appetizer, has many variants. For the sour cherries, you can substitute mixed fruit, sweet cherries, peaches or pears. And if you're short on time or get a craving when the fruit is out of season, it's certainly possible to use canned cherries instead.

As Hun says, Jó étvágyat!