Had a very exciting evening making (and eating!) matzo ball soup.
Matzo (matza, matzah, matzoh) is a flour and water mixture that is used to make matzo meal, which in turn becomes perhaps crackers or kneidlach (dumplings).
The traditional consumption is by Ashkenazi Jews during the season of Passover, when risen or leavened breads are forbidden. The story goes that when the Israeli Jews were forced to leave Egypt, they left without waiting for their bread to rise. Thus matzo. Additionally, this plain, unleavened and unflavoured food is the kind of bread eaten by peasants and the poor, thus reminding believers of the importance of humility.
During Passover, actual matzo ball soup is not allowed, seeing as it contains eggs. But for the rest of the year, it is a tasty and nutritious food.
For those of us who aren't Jewish and who don't have much background with Jewish traditional food, most of the knowledge comes from Seinfeld episodes or New York delis. Over there, the delis are all insane for this soup. I bet when those guys make it, it's awesome. Imagine a cold slushy grey New York day, taxis beeping, pedestrians yelling ("Hey! I'm walking here!"), you looking hot as anything in your long Law-and-Order-style trenchcoat and boots, and stopping into your local deli for a steaming fresh chickeny dumpling-filled soup. Oy.
So, start with the packet mix. You can make it from scratch, but for a first go ( and to see if you like it!) just get the packet. I got mine from the Jewish / kosher section of the supermarket. Places on the southside that do definitely stock it are Coco's on Ipswich Rd, and Pennisi's on Balaclava St.
Next to the box of dumpling mix on the shelf will probably be the matching Telma chicken stock cubes, which I used. You could use your own powdered stock or make some from scratch. Maybe in the future I'll give it a go.
It's easier than getting shot in Beirut. You just take a sachet of the mix, stir an egg into it, and let it sit on the bench for ten minutes to firm up.
This is the mixture before I rolled it into balls.
Meanwhile, boil your stock. Roll the matzo into little balls and drop them into the soup to cook. They only take about five to ten minutes. Other (probably much more legit) recipes have chopped vegetables and herbs in them, and I've seen matzo balls that are so giant they loom hulkingly out of the soup like an iceberg in a teacup. There's a great recipe
over here that uses packet mixes enriched with other goods, and the New York Times has
one from scratch that I am going to try out.
I liked how the interior of the balls were firm, dry-ish and with a distinct bite to them, while the outsides were mooshy and soup-soaked. The balls themselves were super tasty. And even Lord Boring Pants, who never tries anything new if he can help it, thought the soup was great. So soothing; so delicious. And unlike the real thing, ours didn't come with a muttering grandmother making us feel guilty.
Mmm. After my search for the perfect bagel, and after someone recommended Glick's, I got a packet of their frozen poppyseed bagels down at Annerley. Pretty good. Slightly sweet inside, and more on the cakey side than I would have liked. Needs to be more chewy. But still a good bagel. I will try the non-poppyseed varieties and report back.
