Chicken Soup for the Holidays

Frequently, the seemingly simplest foods are the toughest to get right. Chicken soup, a staple of every Jewish household, falls into this category.

Historically, chicken soup was not the rich, savory and satisfying comfort food we seek today. It was a means of extending a limited food supply. Take the least edible parts of the chicken, or perhaps a rooster whose time had come, add some root vegetables (whose time had also neared) and combine with water. The result was a very lightly flavored broth, usually dependent on salt for any discernible flavor. This was the soup my grandmother, a product of the shtetl, brought to the table on holidays and the sabbath.

As an adult, I've been on a mission to find the secret to a great chicken soup. I've made progress. Carrots and parsnips I've found are the key to sweetness. As for the chicken, I've tried whole birds, kosher birds, a collection of carcasses from roasted chickens, backs and legs, and this year, for the first time, wings. Two cooks, whose soups I've admired at recent holidays, both rely on wings to impart a rich, chicken taste.

I filled my stock pot two-thirds of the way with frozen wings, added the carrots, parsnips and onion, and covered everything with water. The soup simmered for four hours and now I'm waiting for it to cool so I can skim off the fat and season it with salt and pepper. Tomorrow I'll make the matzoh balls, and Monday night will be the day of reckoning. Stay tuned - I'll let you know if at long last I've found the key to success.