Judaism 101
April 25, 2008
Last Minute Passover Soup
Maayan Jaffe
Staff Reporter
It’s Passover. You made it through two Seders. You’ve been cooking all week. But hey, tonight is Shabbat. It’s the last Friday night of Passover. And what could be better than a warm and savory bowl of old-fashioned matzah ball soup?
Here are seven steps to a bowl of traditional Passover stew (though many people eat it year round):
1. Beat 4 eggs
2. Stir in 1/2-cup of seltzer, salt and pepper to taste, and about 6 tbsp. of chicken fat (aka schmaltz)
3. Gradually add 1 cup of matzoh meal
4. Cover and refrigerate. (Bubbie says the longer you refrigerate, the fluffier they’ll get. Wait at least one hour.)
5. Bring a stockpot of water to boil
6. Moisten your hands; taking 2 Tbsp. of batter at a time, form balls
7. Cook the matzah balls for around 1/2 hour
It’s interesting to note that some people –– such as Chabad Lubavitchers and some other Hasidim –– don’t eat matzoh balls on Passover. Why? They don’t eat gebrochts, matzoh that has become wet (a question only relevant to kashrut during Passover). Most non-Chassidic Ashkenazim do eat gebrochts. Sephardim, whom also eat kitniyot, grains and legumes on Passover, eat gebrochts.
Whatever you eat, enjoy it!