Matzo Ball Madness

For this blog, I chose to cook matzo ball soup, a classic Jewish comfort food. I chose to make this soup because it is something I grew up eating, but never making. I can remember countless holidays with my family, all of us surrounding the table, as my grandmother, mother and aunt would come and place a steaming bowl of matzo ball soup in front of us. We would be asked, “how many matzo balls do you want?”, and my answer would always be three. Matzah ball soup is more or less a simple chicken soup served with a somewhat unique dumpling like ball made out of matzah meal (unleavened bread served during the holiday of Passover). However, what is significant about this soup are the memories I associate with the soup; sitting at my grandmothers dining room table, with my family, enjoying a steaming of bowl matzah ball soup.

2 kg Chicken Bones
5 Carrots, Medium Dice
5 Celery Stocks, Medium Dice
1 Leek, Medium Dice
2 White Onions, Medium Dice
Fresh bunch of dill
Water to fill stock pot
1 packet Matzo meal
2 eggs
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
(Optional- 1 Clove Garlic, Egg Noodles)

1. Place bones in large stock pot fill stock pot with water until the bones are covered
2. Add all the vegetables to the stock pot
3. Bring to a boil then simmer on medium/low for 3-4 hours
4. Continuously remove boiling fat from the edges of the soup 
5. In a bowl mix the 2 eggs and olive oil, then add the matzo meal mix till incorporated and place in fridge 
6. Using a cheese cloth strain the stock and set aside
7. Take the carrots and useable chicken from the strained items and set aside.
8. Bring a 4l pot of water to boil and add small 2 inch balls of the matzo meal to the water
9. Boil for 20 minutes
10. Serve your reduced stock with pieces of chicken and carrot and as many matzo balls as you please. 

As I prepared the soup, I smelled the rich chicken broth cooking. When preparing the matzah balls, I felt the matzo meal in between my fingers as I rolled them into small balls. I heard the boiling of the soup and the water that held my matzo balls. When I tasted the soup, my initial thought was that it does not taste like my grandmothers nor my mothers, which was a disappointment to me; however, I know that they have more experience than I do with making this soup. I saw the progression from how my ingredients started in the pot, to the final product. My broth is the finished product from, essentially, a pot of water.

I poured some matzo ball soup into a bowl and gave it to my mom. She enjoyed the soup, as well as the matzo balls, although it was slightly different as to how she makes the soup. Even though I followed quite closely to her recipe, the final product tasted different from hers. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the soup and had some praise for me. At the end of the day, she is my mother and she never has something negative to say about what I do; it is a blessing and a curse.

A challenge involved in making this soup was trying to recreate something I know so well, but have never attempted making. My expectations were very high for this dish. Because I grew up eating this soup so often, I could argue my blood is filled with chicken broth and clumps of matzo balls. However, I disappointed myself because the broth was not as rich as I would have liked and the flavour was not like my grandmother would make. My matzo balls turned out great, but the soup could have used some more, something, but I am not sure what. Also, what I would do differently the next time I try to create this soup is actually listen to my mom because she always knows best.

Through making this soup, I realized how food can be so intertwined with memories or how a certain food can trigger memories. I can so vividly remember my grandmothers table and the soup being placed in front of me. Now that she is no longer around, it is important for me to remember these things and continue cooking these foods because it was a traditional thing to make for the holidays, but what it really symbolized was the coming together of family and that really made her happy. So I will continue making this soup, as well as her countless other recipes, because it gives true meaning to cooking for me and that meaningfulness is something I hope I can apply to my culinary endeavours.