What's a nice girl raised by loving catholic folk make on an Easter holiday weekend? Matzo ball soup, naturally.
I saw a woman eating a bowl at the Volunteer Park Cafe where I had lunch with a friend and felt inspired. I had never made it before but came across a recipe on Smitten Kitchen - a food blog I've loyally read for years. I'd say it was a mild success. I'm pretty confident I've heard Jewish women murmuring about matzo balls being difficult to master - something about texture or density or something along those lines. Mine actually turned out great. I think. The problem with making something you've never, ever tasted before is that you have no idea if what you made is a successful representation or not.
There was one identifiable problem, even by my novice tastebuds. The recipe calls for boiling the balls in "heavily salted water" and when I asked the TMF, who was sitting in front of the computer, for a measurement of the salt he declared that there was none, which was factual. So I salted away as he confidently announced, "use a lot because it's where the balls get their flavor!" He claims that he's 1/15th Jewish, so in this household he's crowned the authority.
The balls were salty. And I mean SALTY. After consuming our first ball we each distinctively felt our pulses speed up.
Now I'm on the search for a restaurant version so I can compare. If I lived in NYC this would not be a problem, but goyish Seattle is not known for its Jewish food. Dry bagels, greasy latkes... oy vey, don't get me started!
