Ingredients: A hunger for knowledge; boundless energy and enthusiasm; a love of architecture and design; a passion for cooking and for good food. Read more…
John Ota Serves up Delicious Matzo Balls in Chicken Soup
‘Tis the Season for Jewish Penicillin: Chicken Soup Soothes both Body and Soul
My Jewishness is fraught with complexities and contradictions.
Raised without any religion in the North London suburb of Finchley in post-war Britain, it was white-bread, white-collar and Anglo-Saxon all the way. (This is not the case today, I’ve noted on recent visits, in a neighbourhood where kebab shops, curry houses and the Tally Ho! pub rub shoulders in a somewhat seedy multicultural mix).
My late father Mel Schachter grew up poor and tough on the mean streets of Montreal’s Jewish ghetto to become “my son, the doctor” – a profession he once said he chose because “it was the best racket going.” Read more…
Jewish penicillin: easy peasy chicken soup
Believe it or not, until now, I had never made authentic, Jewish-style chicken soup. But when a dear friend returned home from several months in hospital, having lost weight and in a weakened condition, I decided this was the time to cook up a batch of this beautiful broth with scientifically proven health benefits that, I believe, come from nutrients in the chicken’s bones.
Ideally, I would have used chicken feet along with the whole bird. However, the former item is hard to find in Stratford where I now live. Pity, as they add gelatinous texture and superb flavour that give that extra oomph to any clear chicken soup or stock. Read more…
