Matzo balls make me think of Marilyn Monroe. I’ll explain. When she was married to Arthur Miller, his mother, Isadore, often served them in soup. She served them so much that one evening her daughter-in-law asked, “Isn’t there any other part of the matzo you can eat?” Badum-tisch! I’ve always loved this and thought it proper Borscht Belt comedy. Well played, Marilyn. You were wittier than people gave you credit.
For a while when I was growing up, both my parents were busy working long hours at different studios. My stepfather was at Warner Brothers and my mother was at Sunset Gower. This coincided with my matzo ball soup phase when all I wanted to eat was–you guessed it. What do you do for a child like that? Open a house account at a Jewish deli, of course. The deli was Greenblatt’s and if you didn’t hit a red light, it was less than a five minute drive from where we lived in the canyon. Not only did this legendary deli open in 1926, the same year Marilyn Monroe was born, but it was one of her haunts during her Joe DiMaggio years. I guess that’s why Arthur Miller preferred Canter’s.
Greenblatt’s is sadly no longer. Their doors closed on August 12th 2021, but their memory lives on. It was the deli of my dreams–Yams, lemon pepper chicken, latkes with sour cream and apple sauce, roast turkey dinners, macaroni and cheese, hot pastrami sandwiches with cole slaw and Russian dressing served au jus, fruit tarts, Dr. Brown’s sodas, Nat Sherman cigarettes next to the cash register, and posters of saucy Edwardian ladies baring their ankles in the powder room.
There was a Frenchman called Yves who worked there in the 1990s. My father tells a story about ordering from Greenblatt’s shortly after I went to college in New York. For whatever reason, my parents had a yen for some deli food. When Da opened the door, Yves looked at him skeptically. “Where eese zee leetle gelle?” In all his years of delivering to our house, I was the only one who ever greeted him. My absence confused him.
Post graduation, I moved back to L.A. and continued ordering from Greenblatt’s even after Yves left the deli. The sandwiches were a thing to behold, but for me, the matzo ball soup was the main event. It was what I ordered every Friday night after I finished taping Living With Fran. Quality matzo balls are light and fluffy. They float. They have flavour. Eating them is pure comfort. Greenblatt’s were massive. Make whatever joke you like but they were and they sat in the most magical golden broth.
A bite of a good matzo ball is like basking in afterglow. It makes you feel like Marilyn in Arthur’s embrace. People eat matzo and matzo balls year round, but they are crucial at Passover because of what they represent. They serve as a reminder of the unleavened bread the Jews had to eat whilst fleeing Egypt. Passover is a celebration of freedom and matzo balls are symbolic of this. Though Marilyn’s life ended tragically, I see her as a symbol of freedom too. But that is another piece in and of itself.
I told you Marilyn Monroe makes me think of matzo balls. Now, maybe she will you too.
Below is my recipe. I’m sharing it not only because Passover is approaching and the weather is terrible and conducive to eating such a dish, but because the ink has faded on my recipe and I’d like to have it here for safekeeping. It’s changed a bit over the years. I used to make it with schmaltz, but found that oil yields a lighter fluffier result. Ditto sparkling water instead of stock. Besides, a savoury stock will infuse your matzo balls with more than enough flavour.
Happy noshing. If you enjoy this, you might like my recipe for chocolate matzo torte with marmalade.
Ingredients:
1 cup matzo meal (I am partial to Manischewitz, but Rakusen’s is fine too. I buy matzo meal from Ocado, Tesco, or Amazon.)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 Tbsp sparkling water
2 litres of chicken/vegetable stock
Method:
Combine the matzo meal and seasonings in a medium sized bowl.
In another bowl, use a fork to lightly beat 4 eggs. Then add the vegetable oil and sparkling water to it.
Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry. Stir them together until everything is combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. This will give the matzo meal enough time to soak up the egg mixture.
While the matzo ball mixtures chills, slowly bring your stock to the boil.
When you are ready to make matzo balls, remove the mixture from the fridge. Keep a small bowl of water next to you so you can wet your hands between shaping the balls. It helps keep things from getting too sticky. This recipe yields 10-12 balls. Shape them carefully. Don’t pack the matzo meal tightly. You want them to be light.
After you shape a matzo ball, drop it in the stock. Once you’ve got them all in the pot, turn down the heat so they simmer with a lid on top. Let them simmer for about 15 minutes before turning off the heat completely, but keep the lid on tight and do not lift it. The steam is what will gently cook the matzo balls.
Be sure not to boil your matzo balls. This will make them dense.
After an extra 20 minutes of steaming with the heat off, your matzo ball soup should be ready to eat.
I like to serve mine with parsley and dill but not everyone enjoys it this way. Have it however suits.
Chagrinnamon Toast 