Grieving, with Food

Our beloved Aunt Debbie, the one with the laughing eyes and infectious giggle, the hug that smooshed into you, the keeper of Sefardi tradition and family recipes, died this past Shabbat. We are all feeling somewhat lost and very sad. We spent many Pesah sedarim and Rosh Hashana dinners at her table, always filled with Greek and Turkish goodies appropriate to the season and holiday.

The minute you walked into her kitchen for Pesah, you were treated to what my husband always called "booms": bumuelos, delicious little nuggets of matza and apple, deep fried and sweetened with honey. The seder, conducted these last few years by Uncle Joe and  Perry, featured a whiny Sefardi mnemonic that helps to keep the place in the long ritual, began with the seder plate carried by Debbie, and later, by her daughter-in-law Karla, to insure everyone's wish for the next year would come true. 

The haroset was spectacular and unmatchable. We always left with a little jar for the rest of the week, to be spread on matza, served as a side dish or used as a dip for raw vegetables. 

In the last few years, Debbie asked me to take over making the prassa, or leek-potato latkes. I tried and tried, but I never thought mine were anywhere near as good as hers. Last year she told me they were pretty close, and all I had to do was make them a little smaller and thicker. That's high praise from someone who made them her whole life, first at Grandma Jennie's side, and then as the accomplished cook she became.

I didn't know what to do with myself Saturday night. We were so sad and had spent much of the day crying and reminiscing. So I went to my kitchen and made a big pot of soup. That was a little of my grieving, with food.I'll cry more preparing in just a few weeks for this Pesah. 

But I'll remember to make the prassa a little smaller, and a little thicker. Thanks for everything, Aunt Debbie.We'll love you forever.

Cross-Cultural Chicken Soup

Who doesn't love a bowl of steaming soup on a cold day? Today I realized I hadn't made the chicken soup I had promised College Girl all winter break...not good. I knew I had to squeeze it in before she leaves for school, and today was the perfect day for it.

But nicejewish girl has a few tricks up her sleeve...

For starters, I'm not a traditionalist when it comes to chicken soup. I usually -as I did tonight - opt for making it in a pressure cooker (GASP!) rather than the standard large pot cooking on the stove for hours version.  I  know lots of folks are terrified of pressure cookers, but I find them really handy.And that's saying something once I tell you that a previous pressure cooker did explode and I had chicken soup all over my cabinets and counters. Not ideal. But newer pressure cookers have much better locking mechanisms and safety features and I am now fearless. Why do I prefer the pressure cooker method? Because I sometimes procrastinate and box myself into a corner time-wise and using the pressure cooker lets me go from start to finish in about an hour...including prep time.

And there's another good reason for using the pressure cooker. You know that scuzzy stuff that forms at the top when you're cooking the soup in that big open pot? That grayish, yucky stuff you need to skim off repeatedly in the first 45 minutes of cooking? Yep, you don't have to deal with that when you use a pressure cooker. Even though I have invested in a really good stainless steel strainer.

And brace yourself. I'm gonna tell you that I use some unusual spices and condiments in my Cross-Cultural Chicken Soup.

I use HAWAIJ Arabic: خاواييج‎, Hebrew: חו׳יג׳ . Here's what it looks like:

You should smell it. Really. It's heavenly. Hawaij is a Yemenite spice blend. The one I use is for soup, and contains cumin, tumeric, black pepper, cloves and cardamon. 

And once the soup is served, I like to add a teeny-tiny amount of SCHUG 
Yemeni Arabic: سحوق saḥawaq, Hebrew: סחוג s'khug.   Think of it as Middle Eastern hot sauce. Really hot sauce. Really clean-out-your-sinuses-and-knock-you-into-New-Jersey hot.
Here's what it looks like:

Ok kids, let's get on to the recipe:

Cross-Cultural Chicken Soup

3 chicken drumsticks and 4 chicken thighs, or 3 chicken quarters of legs and thighs

1  medium onion, chopped

1-2 large carrots, peeled and sliced in 12" rounds

2 stalks of celery, leaves removed

2 parsnips, peeled and sliced in 1" chunks

Fresh dill

2 tsp hawaij

Salt to taste

Clean and prep the chicken, cutting off excess fat. Place chicken pieces at the bottom of pressure cooker. Add cut vegetables, hawaiij and salt. Add 8 cups of cool water.

Close pressure cooker lid tightly and place pressure regulator on top of lid. Cook on high heat until the pressure indicator rises. Lower heat but be sure that the pressure indicator remains raised. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove pot from heat and open the pressure regulator on top to let the steam escape and the internal pressure to reduce. Once this has happened, carefully unlock the lid and smell your gorgeous soup!

I usually make fine noodles, rice, or frozen Pelminyi (Russian chicken kreplach) to serve with the soup. Ladle your pasta of choice, then add the soup. You can put the schug on the table with a teeny tiny demitasse spoon so that no one is tempted to use too much.

Enjoy!