Anyway, every week my mother-in-law made the most amazing soup EVER. I would try to recreate it in my apartment with lentils, chicken, celery, tomatoes, dill, parsnips, parsley. Inevitably, my broth would taste like water or, at best, weak parsnip-flavored tea.
Once my future in the family seemed secure enough for the transmission of state secrets (i.e., for me to help cook Shabbat dinners), my future m-i-l told me the mystery ingredient...
Osem Soup powder.
You dump a few heaping tablespoons of this magic powder (available in kosher grocery stores in the US!) into water, and instantly you evoke soup simmering for hours in a shtetl kitchen, mixed with Cup-a-Soup and a lot of salt. Even better, Osem makes vegetarian chicken soup powder that tastes like the real thing, meaning that I finally have an answer to all of those recipes that call for chicken broth in cream sauce!When I came to Israel, I realized that this fairy dust has infinite uses. My ulpan teacher told us about how she puts soup powder in everything (including her husband's soups, which he refuses to powder because of some silly objection to preservatives. As if parve chicken soup powder could be anything but all-natural). Soup powder is ideal in:
- Casseroles (especially "pashtidot," which don't have a good translation in English)
- Chopped liver (which I made for my husband on Valentines Day-- it's an unsung aphrodesiac!)
- Stir fry
- Mashed potatoes
- Kugel
- Matzo balls
- Pasta sauce
- hummus
- mujaddrah
We had an Argentinian chef called Alberto in my ulpan class, who shared with us the recipe for French Onion Soup that he prepares at a fairly nice Italian restaurant in Haifa. Onions, butter, flour, water, white wine-- and Osem Onion Soup mix.
Are there any fun uses for soup powder that I missed?
Other use: Pasta, Rice, and pretty much much anything that cooks in water. (Including "of BaTanur - chicken in the over)
ReplyDeleteOoh, yes! How could I forget pasta and rice! I ALWAYS put soup powder in the water that I boil those in! Good one, anonymous. :)
ReplyDeleteNice post.
ReplyDeletebut i must say that I too am against soup powder. maybe because my Mom did put it in almost anything/everything.
But seriously - its gives most soups a more or less "even" taste and everything tastes the same which is a pitty as we put in such good stuff in our soups.
but to each his own taste :-)
Sorry m'dear, I don't. I don't like salt either.
ReplyDeleteIf I must salt I only used the coarse salt.
I once cooked a big pot of chicken soup for a public event, the way my mother taught me. The couple organizing the event (they weren't Israeli, and this was in NY) dumped in about a cup of soup without asking me. I didn't say anything but I was ready to kill them.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh this is what I term Morrocan Secret Seasoning. I also use it in my spicey fish for shabbot and the chamin too. Osem makes one that says all natural on the front, (no MSG). Not all the stores have it, but I buy it when I find it.
ReplyDeleteI use it in scalloped potatoes...mixed with flour, margarine and boiling water...to make the "creamy" sauce without dairy. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteMmm... Osem is absolutely fabulous it's true, I love all there stuff and the Vegetarian Chicken soup has been great on Holidays at my dad's house since I became a vegetarian. :D
ReplyDeleteQuick translation for you though, a pashteda would be a quiche in English. ;) I had to make one with my aunt before I finally understood what we were actually making haha!
Oh man! I spent a few months in Northern Israel (Ramot Naftali about 30 minutes from Kiryat Shmona) excavating. The woman that made our food always made the BEST soups. I have attempted to re-create them over here in Minnesota but to no avail. There was one tomato broth soup with rice and cilantro and a lentil soup that was just lentils. Maybe Osem Soup Powder is the missing link!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your blog. I wish I lived in Israel.
your filipinit care-giver does the same thing when she's visiting her kids back in Cavite Province once a year. Over there the brand name is ddifferent - but the powder came from the same factory in Davenport, Iowa.
ReplyDeleteIt tastes "great" because it's packed with MSG. look in the
ReplyDeleteרכיבים:
מונוסודיום גלוטימט
Usually,
"משפרי טעם", או "חומרי טעם"
is also MSG...
Definetly rice and ptitim (פתיתים). You just dump and few spoons in to the water and you're ready to go. I've never heard of anyone putting it in pasta though.
ReplyDelete