March 29, 2004

Chicken soup: Long simmered in tradition For American Jews, it's a cultural touchstone

By Charlotte E. Tucker
USA TODAY

Chicken soup has played an important role in Jewish life for centuries and is a tradition at many family meals for Passover, which this year begins next Monday at sundown.

It's also a common element that links Jews of all backgrounds and all degrees of religiosity.

''It's something cultural,'' says Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, director of the National Jewish Outreach Program (www.njop.org), which he founded in 1987 to educate non-observant Jews about their religion. ''Most people identify that classic, greasy chicken soup with the Jewish faith.''

That is one of the reasons the organization sponsored last month's ''Best Chicken Soup in America'' contest, which was part of a campaign ''to educate people about Judaism in a non-threatening way,'' Buchwald says.

Chicken soup is a Passover staple in part because it does not include any of the foods forbidden by the holiday's dietary restrictions.

Jews around the world eat unleavened bread (matzoh) and other special foods during the eight-day celebration, which commemorates God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The holiday is marked by family gatherings, special meals and the retelling of the biblical story of the Exodus.

Many cooks add matzoh balls and vegetables to the chicken soup -- sometimes called matzoh ball soup -- and practically every family has its own favorite variation.

In the contest, a traditional recipe by winner Rosely Himmelstein beat out gourmet variations that included ingredients such as coconut milk and cream of wheat.

Himmelstein's broth was a traditional, stock-based concoction featuring rutabaga and sweet potato, but otherwise sticking with the basics.

Himmelstein, 68, a lifelong Manhattan resident whose father owned a supermarket, says she bases her soup on recipes made by her mother and grandmother.

She says food has always been important to her family. She usually cooks the Passover Seder dinner for a crowd of eight to 10 friends and family members.

''I come from a family where food and affection were closely identified,'' Himmelstein says. ''You can never replace the traditions of homemade food and families sitting down together.''

Buchwald says he appreciates the soothing, comforting qualities of chicken soup -- which is sometimes referred to as ''Jewish penicillin.''

''I'm a three-bowl chicken soup man -- especially with matzoh balls,'' he says.