One of the dishes I always look forward to most on Passover is Matzoh Ball Soup. Given that, it's odd that I have never tried to make my own, which I actually just realized now. In any case, the reason I have such a love affair with Matzoh Ball Soup is due to my Nanny. You see, she made the best Matzoh Ball Soup around. I'm sure many people have said that before, that their grandmothers made the best fill-in-the-blank-here, and all of them believe it to be true.
Nanny hasn't been with us since 2001, so it has been quite some time since I have had her famous soup. Sadly, I don't even have the recipe. But what I do have is the memory -- of her taking over the kitchen for days on end; of everyone gathered around the table; of those enormous, light and airy balls; of the sound of my family slurping up its goodness, tipping the bowl back so as not to miss a drop of it, of the fact that her soup actually tasted like love liquified.
So in an effort not to miss out on Passover altogether, and the fact that I was quickly growing bored of Chicken Noodle Soup, I decided to hunt some down. Lucky for me, I found some at Whole Foods.
This afternoon, I poured it into a bowl, warmed it up and prepared to have my own little Passover. Truth be told, it was a bit of a dissapointment. The broth was alright, but the matzoh ball itself was just mush. The consistency and texture were all wrong. As I mentioned, I have never made my own so I couldn't pinpoint exactly what wasn't right. All I knew was it that was a fry cry from my Nanny's.
Nonetheless, it still made me feel good, surprisingly good, actually. It was edible, and satisfied my craving, and just the act of eating it, despite its lack of flavor and texture, made me feel close to Nanny. I knew it wouldn't be as good as her recipe. I was prepared for the dissapointment. What I wasn't prepared for was the love that still managed to wash over me, so many years later and so many bowls after my Nanny's Matzoh Ball Soup.
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