There is a secret document that many Jews have been waiting to be exposed for years. No, it is not the formula to writing an excellent musical comedy – although many would be interested. The secret I speak of is that of Golda Meir’s chicken soup and kneidlach. Yes, it is out. And I am enchanted.
What interests me most about Meir’s recipe is her method for making kneidlach: the first and only female Prime Minister in the history of modern Israel used actual matzah, as well as the olbigatory matzah meal, which is pretty off-piste in a modern Jewish kitchen.
So, I’m going to have to try this next time I make chicken soup. They can’t be bad seeing as the creator was a rare beast of a female politician in the 1960s, who was known not only for making her own food but also for entertaining international statesmen and women in forums known as ‘Golda’s Kitchen’. Now that’s my sort of pow wow. I’d like to see David Cameron getting his dumplings out for Angela Merkel next time she visits Number 10.
Interesting find! And that chicken soup recipes all around the world are basically the same. Was her kneidlach meant just for Passover?
Thanks divaindoors! The document reads as though the kneidlach were meant only for Passover but could she have held out for the other 51 weeks of the year? Or did she have another recipe?
Well, if she’s like me, the matzah meal will be lying around for the next two Passovers, so maybe she was trying to finish it up. But I hope there was another recipe waiting to be discovered! xx