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!


Aw, lady, you make this Cajew so proud! Looks amazing!
Posted by: Laura | Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 04:30 PM
Wow,I could think of 100 things I would have tried making before I even thought of Matzo balls. I assume the soup is a chicken broth??
Posted by: Mom | Monday, April 05, 2010 at 09:44 PM