Reaper’s soup – Kaszás leves

by | Jul 1, 2022 | Soups

Before the appearance of reaping machines crops were cut and collected by hand. Harvesting grains with a sickle or a scythe was a hard physical work, which required nourishing meals. Reaper’s soup (kaszás leves) was one of those foods that were usually cooked during the harvest season. Kaszás leves, which reminds us the old tradition of reaping, is a hearty soup containing smoked pork, vegetables, sour cream and croutons.

The meat can be any kind of smoked pork cut (shank, neck, etc.), preferably boneless and fatty. Smoked pork generally needs to be soaked in cold water for a couple of hours before cooking, otherwise the soup may be too salty and unpalatable. The following recipe was inspired by Szoky’s kitchen.

Reaper's soup - Kaszás leves
Reaper’s soup – Kaszás leves – photo: zserbo.com

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kaszás leves reaper's soup smoked pork

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Hungarian cottage cheese

This is what Hungarian túró looks like

You often ask me what kind of cottage cheese (or curd cheese or farmer's cheese - call it what you want) I use in the recipes. In Hungary the store-bought cottage cheese is dry and crumbly as you can see in the picture. So if a recipe calls for túró, I mean this type. If you can't obtain túró, you can try to make your own from whole milk. Click on the link below.

How to make túró at home

Metric system vs cup

In Hungary metric units are in use, all the recipes on this website are based on this system, so a kitchen scale is necessary. Since I’m not familiar with cup as a measurement unit, I convert grams to cups by using an online converter. The values in brackets, therefore, are only approximate volumes, so, please, double-check them before you start cooking.