Goldene yoich (golden chicken soup)

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 large Old Boiling Fowl; washed well
X Cold water to cover
1½ pounds Soup Vegetables (750 g)
1 medium Parsley Root (petrushka) with leaves

Directions

GOLDENE YOICH

It is almost impossible to give a recipe for chicken soup. Flavourings change from family to family and from season to season. Any combination of the following vegetables could be used: onion, leek, carrots, celery leaves, parsnip, courgette and pumpkin. Sometimes whole red tomatoes were added to improve the the color of the soup.

For the same reason, onions were sometimes left unpeeledto darken the color of the soup. The most essential falavouring, which seems to have been used all over Europe, was the parsley root (petrushka). It is useless to attempt this soup using a roasting chicken; the results will be insipid. An old, tough bird (boiling chicken) is needed.

Include the cleaned feet as they contain gelatine. Once the soup is ready the chicken becomes pretty much redundant. However, the thrifty Jewish cook found numerous ways of utilising it. The chicken could be basted with fat collected from the top of the soup and browned in the oven until the skin is crisp and crunchy, which makes the chicken almost edible. Or it could be made into a cold salad or served with egg and lemon saauce (lemon juice thickened over steam with egg yolks). The vegetables, although tasteless and mushy, can be served separately, as a garnish in the soup, or mashed with breadcrumbs and eggs and fried, like rissoles.

x Bouquet Garni - made with petrushka leaves, a few celery leaves, 2 bay leaves and a strip of lemon peel x Peppercorns ( afew) Wash the chicken well in plenty of cold, running water. If the feet are used, scorch them well over an open flame and rub to remove the hard skin. Put the washed chicken in a large stock pot. Cover with cold water and bring very slowly to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and skim the surface well. Add the vegetables with the parsley, bouquet garni and peppercorns and simmer, very gently, for 3 hours.

Lift out the chicken and discard the bouquet garni. Skim almost all the fat from the top. It is important that a littl efat should be left to achieve the customary yellow globules which add sparkle to the soup. Serve either the clear or with one of the many "content" (garnishes), such as rice, baked croutons, (mandlen or soup `almonds'), noodles (vermicelli), or dumplings (einlauf, nockerals or kneidlach).

From: In Search Of plenty: A History Of Jewish Food (Kyle Cathie Ltd) By: Oded Schwartz

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