New York Times

Soup for Good Souls, Jewish or Otherwise
March 13, 2009

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Soup’s On! (And It’s Not Your Grandmother’s)

Do the Jews have a claim on chicken soup?

A mock court once thought so, ruling that chicken soup deserved the title of “Jewish penicillin.” (The opposing side argued that the soup belonged to everyone, and that Greeks, Italians and Chinese could all claim to use chicken soup in time of illness.)

And chicken soup may actually indeed have elixir-type properties for a cold (not just the soul). A 2000 study found that chicken soup (a recipe passed down from a Lithuanian grandmother) inhibited the movement of neutrophils, the most common type of white blood cell that defends against infection, which may reduce upper respiratory cold symptoms.

So while many a chicken soup recipe has been passed down from Jewish grandmothers, some felt it was time for the soup to be updated — time to move past garlic, noodles, carrots and matzo balls. The organizers of a national chicken soup contest urged contestants to think progressively in the “Better Than Your Bubby’s” soup competition. (”Bubby” is how the contest organizers spelled it; we prefer “Bubbe.”)

“It’s something that is traditional, but can be made new for every generation,” said Ilya Welfeld, a spokeswoman for the National Jewish Outreach Program, which sponsored the contest.

The soup was a metaphor for the Jewish-American experience and the core mission of the organization. “Just as we pass the recipes on for generation to generation, we pass the Jewish heritage from generation to generation,” said Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, the director of the program. (The group’s latest approach in outreach: Twittering at @jewishtweets.)

Hundreds of recipes came in, with ingredients like peppercorn, couscous, sweet potato, barley, seltzer. (No cream though, as the recipes had to be kosher, but soy milk was O.K.) There was the Mexican chicken soup, Tunisian chicken soup, Asian fusion chicken soup, Hungarian “sweet and spicy” chicken soup. The also reflected a range of new world and old world cooking. One of the finalist recipes, for example, included a line to “remove any feathers.”

A panel of seven judges sampled the finalists.

The five recipe finalists were sampled on Thursday afternoon at Abigael’s on Broadway by a panel of seven judges that included Jeff Nathan, the owner of Abigael’s, and Jamie Geller, who has been called the “Jewish Rachael Ray.”

The winner of the last contest, Rosaley Himmelstein, arrived but declared she was loathe to give up her title as the Queen of Chicken Soup, which she has had for five years.

“What are my grandchildren going to say: ‘My grandmother used to make the best chicken soup?’” said Ms. Himmelstein, who puts her trophy out on her table when she has guests.

The five finalists were Michael Cohen of Los Angeles; Jackie Gregston of Hallsville, Tex.; Wolfgang Hanau of West Palm Beach; Elizabeth Kratz of Bergenfield, N.J.; and Diane Nemitz of Ludington, Mich. (Not all the finalists are Jewish.) The winner not only received glory (with the recipe disseminated as part of Shabbat Across America), but also a free trip to Israel, among other prizes.

Only one of the finalists made it to Abigael’s: Ms. Kratz, who had submitted what she called “Hungarian sweet and spicy chicken soup.” The creation was inspired by her husband’s parents, Hungarian Holocaust survivors who had moved to Vienna.

“For Hungarians, paprika is one of their four food groups,” she said. “It adds a complexity to the recipe that you wouldn’t have in a tradition soup.”

Ms. Kratz offered to summarize the importance of chicken soup to Jews in America. “Chicken soup is a symbol,” she said. “It’s a symbol of a mother’s comfort and a mother’s love.”

The judges sipped and sampled the soups, which were made by restaurant staff members. Then, they rated the soups on equal parts appearance, creativity and flavor from a scale from 1 to 5.

The winner was “D,” a recipe called “Elat chicken soup,” by Mr. Cohen, which included English cucumber, eggplant, all-spice, tumeric and cumin.

“I’ve never seen a chicken soup done that way before and it still be called chicken soup,” said Ms. Keller, who awarded Mr. Cohen’s soup a 5 for creativity but a 1 for appearance. “There was a lot going on.”

This reporter tasted the soup, which had a very Middle Eastern flare to it, and agreed that there indeed was a lot going on.

The announcement was made by phone to Mr. Cohen, 31, who lives in Hollywood and writes music for film, television and video games. He said he started cooking up a storm when he got his own place a few years ago, and had entered a number of recipe contests. The chicken soup was an Israeli-inspired recipe that he had created himself.

“Is he single?” a woman in the audience asked when his bio was read.

“I am,” Mr. Cohen replied on the telephone.

“Tell him one of the prizes is being set up,” the woman said.

Another Jewish tradition, which also evolves while staying the same.