The Great Matzo Ball Soup Mix-up

Shared by Hariette Skidelsky and Ella Osias
Recipe Roots: Haifa, Israel > Virginia > Syracuse, New York > New York City

Ella Osias’s family lived very modestly in 1920s Bucharest, the Romanian capital. Her mother said that with the birth of each child, she simply added more water to the soup pot to stretch the soup. By the time Ella, the 10th and final child was born in 1930, the soup was already watered down, but they made do, Ella’s daughter Hariette Skidelsky shared with us. 

Along with her mother and three of her siblings, Ella survived World War II in hiding and made her way to a displaced persons camp. Here, she met her future husband. One day, he was tasked with passing out chocolate bars to children under 16 in the camp. Ella came to claim one. A debate ensued about whether she was actually younger than 16 and a connection was made.

Together, they made their way to Palestine by boat, Hariette explains. In her new life, Ella started to cook, developing her own recipes for hearty soups and Romanian dishes salata de bef, which means beef salad but is in fact made with chicken and potatoes in the family. 

Ella brought the recipes with her when the family immigrated via a cargo ship to the United States in 1959, when Hariette was just four years old. Here, Ella opened a “shmata” or women’s clothing store on Orchard Street on New York City’s Lower East Side. Since she was at the shop much of the time, she enlisted her Dominican housekeeper Elena Anderson to help prepare her recipes including matzo ball soup, which was served when company came and on Passover. 

When Hariette was a young bride and preparing to host Seder for the first time, Elena, who had become a member of the family, came over to help her make the famed matzo soup as her mother worked. Ella called throughout the day, checking in on her recipe. Was this added or that added, she asked Hariette, who assured Elena was following her recipe and tradition and that the soup smelled delicious.

As guests gathered around the table, everyone was told to save room for Ella’s acclaimed soup. Once it was served, Hariette’s mother and sister raced to add salt and pepper to their bowls. Something was amiss. The soup was tasteless — but got rave reviews from Hariette’s in-laws. After the meal, Ella asked Hariette what had happened to her soup. In the kitchen, they found two pots on the stove, one for matzo balls in water and the other a rich broth — left untouched. Hariette had served the matzo balls in water, but without her mother’s signature broth. 

“I never [hosted] after that,” Hariette says. “I wasn’t trusted.” But the tale of her failed version of Ella’s soup still holds an important place in the family’s Seder tradition. Each year, the story is retold right alongside the Exodus out of Egypt. 

Hariette will share a version of this story at Schmaltzy: Nasty Women at the 14th Street Y on November 18. The event is sold out, but to join the waitlist, please email hi@jewishfoodsociety.org

Hariette’s son is currently writing a book on Ella’s life.

Ella's Matzo Ball Soup

Photos by Penny De Los Santos

Serves: 6 to 8
Time: 1 hour active + 3  hours inactive

Ingredients
For the Soup:
1 onion, peeled and halved
1 to 2 leeks, white and pale-green parts only, chopped in half crosswise
4 to 5 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 parsley roots with parsley leaves, peeled
7 to 8 celery stalks, peeled and roughly chopped
6 chicken drumsticks, bone-in, skin-on
6 chicken wings, bone-in, skin-on
1½  tablespoons kosher salt
1 bunch fresh dill

For the Matzo Balls:
1 cup matzo meal
4 eggs
¼ cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 pinch white pepper

Preparation
1. Make the soup: Place the onion, leeks, carrots, parsley roots, celery, chicken drumsticks and wings, and salt in a large pot. Add 3 quarts of water (around 12-13 cups) of cold water. Place over high heat uncovered to bring the pot to boil, about 30 minutes. 

2. Turn down the heat to a simmer, cover the pot with a lid and allow to cook for 2 hours. Use a large slotted spoon to skim off any impurities that rise to the surface. If the soup liquid reduces significantly during cooking, top it off with an additional 2 cups of boiling water.

3. Add the dill and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

4. Remove the soup pot from the heat. Strain the soup through a large sieve or strainer. Reserve the onion, carrots, and chicken pieces.

5. Make the matzo balls: Whisk the matzo meal, eggs, chicken soup, olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt and white pepper in a mixing bowl until combined. Cover the matzo ball mixture with plastic wrap and set it to cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes until the matzo meal absorbs the liquid and the mixture sets near firm.

6. In a large pot bring about 3 quartz of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. 

7. Transfer the matzo ball mixture from the refrigerator. Place a tablespoonful of the mixture between the palm of your hands and shape the matzo ball into a sphere. Drop the matzo ball into the boiling water and continue with the rest of the matzo ball mixture. Wet your hands with cold water if the mixture sticks to your hands during the process.

8. Once all the matzo balls are placed in the pot, bring it back up to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook for another hour, until the matzo balls have risen from the bottom and have expanded to about twice their original size.  

9. To serve, ladle the strained soup into a bowl and top with a piece of onion, celery, carrot, chicken and 1 to 2 matzo balls. Serve hot.