H eadlines
Passover four soup bowls, ladle in the
broth and serve with the platter
of chicken and potatoes.

Yemenite Chicken Soup
from Zahav, © 2015 by Michael
Solomonov and Steven Cook.

Reproduced by permission of
Rux Martin Books/Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt. All rights
reserved. Continued from Page 1
This year, given that
Passover is already unusual due
to the pandemic, we thought
we’d talk to Jews from dispa-
rate backgrounds and hear
about what Passover means to
them. Unsurprisingly, most
people talked a lot about food
— a passion for eating is appar-
ently the one thing all Jews
have in common.

Enjoy the sampler and
accompanying recipes — and
get some ideas to try next week!
— Liz Spikol
Yemen: Chicken Soup
for the Soul
When Ronen Koresh was
growing up in Israel, gathering
for the Passover seder with
his extended
Yemenite Jewish family was an exciting
occasion. “We would get together at
my grandparents’ and family
would join in from everywhere,
and it was huge,” the choreog-
rapher and owner of Koresh
Dance Co. in Rittenhouse
Square said.

H is
g ra ndpa rent s
followed traditions closely,
from reclining on pillows
throughout the meal to making
sure the Haggadah was read in
its entirety.

It was a long time for a
small boy to wait for the festive
meal, but it was worth it when
his relatives brought out the
food. In addition to symbolic
Passover dishes like matzah,
Yemenite soup was a seder
table staple.

“A soup, in the Yemenite
tradition, is pretty much a full
meal,” Koresh said. “It’s either
beef or chicken, and primarily
what makes it so special is the
spices.” His mother and grand-
mother cooked the dish with
hawaij, a blend of ground
spices including black pepper,
cumin, turmeric and saffron.

“So back then, actually, for
my mom and my grandmother,
and the family members who
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Preserving Moroccan
Traditions Ronen Koresh says soup is Yeminite seder staple. Courtesy of Ronen Koresh
cooked, everything was made
by hand,” he said. “So they
were crushing spice, they had
a special rock and they blended
it themselves.”
Yemenite soup is usually
served with flatbread, but
diners crumble matzah into
the broth during Passover.

— Sophie Panzer
YEMENITE CHICKEN SOUP
Serves 4
1 whole chicken
(about 4 pounds)
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon plus 2
teaspoons hawaij, plus
more for serving
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 quarts chicken stock
12 baby Yukon Gold
potatoes, peeled
1 bunch ramps or scallions,
sliced Slice the chicken breasts
from the bone and discard the
skin; reserve the bones. Season
the breast meat generously
on both sides with salt and
1 teaspoon of the hawaij, put
it on a plate, and refrigerate.

Remove the drumsticks, thighs
and wings from the carcass.

Warm the oil in a large pot
over medium heat. Add the
onion, garlic and a pinch of salt
and cook, stirring frequently,
until the onion begins to soften,
about 10 minutes. Add the
chicken stock and the chicken
pieces (except for the reserved
breast meat), breast bones
and carcass. Raise the heat to
medium-high and bring it to
a boil, skimming off any foam
that rises to the surface.

Lower the heat to a simmer
and add 1 tablespoon of the
hawaij. Simmer for about 45
minutes, until the chicken is
cooked through.

Transfer the thighs and
drumsticks to a plate, cover
and refrigerate. Simmer the
soup for another 2 hours.

Pour the soup through a
fine mesh strainer into a clean
soup pot; discard the solids.

Place the pot over medium heat
and add the reserved chicken
thighs and drumsticks, along
with the potatoes and the
remaining teaspoon of hawaij.

Bring it to a simmer and cook
until the potatoes are tender,
about 20 minutes.

Add the reserved chicken
breasts and ramps or scallions
and simmer until the chicken
is just cooked through, about
10 minutes more. Remove
the chicken breasts from the
soup and gently pull the meat
apart using two forks. Season
the broth with salt and more
hawaij if you like.

To serve, transfer the
chicken thighs and drumsticks
and potatoes to a platter.

Divide the shredded chicken
and ramps or scallions among
JEWISH EXPONENT
For years, Abraham Azagury’s
family read the Haggadah in
Ladino, a language influenced
by Spanish, Hebrew, Greek and
Turkish. Next week, Azagury,
a resident of Pittsburgh’s
Squirrel Hill neighborhood,
will continue that family
tradition — along with some
adaptations his father insti-
tuted decades ago.

“My father’s parents, who
were from Morocco, would
read the entire Haggadah in
Ladino,” Azagury said. But
when Azagury was a child, his
father would mix in English as
well, to keep the kids interested.

Now that he’s a father, he’s
finding ways to honor his
Moroccan heritage and pass it
on to his children. In addition
to reciting “Mah Nishtana” and
“Ha Lachma Anya” in Ladino,
and telling the story of the
Exodus, at the evening’s start
Azagury will lift the seder
plate above each person’s head
and say, “Bibhilu yatzanu mi–
mizrayim” (“in haste we went
out from Egypt”).

Later, when recalling the 10
plagues, Azagury will mention
each plague in Ladino, then
pour wine into a bucket while
his wife and children pour
water into the same container.

After 10 spills of wine and 10
spills of water, they’ll dump
the liquid into the toilet,
thereby discarding the negative
See Passover, Page 14
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MARCH 18, 2021
13