Chicken soup is known for its curative powers – come in from the cold
The first chicken soup was made in the poor communities in Russia where for centuries poultry was the only affordable meat. Many families used the whole bird to prepare a three-course traditional meal, starting with chopped liver, followed by a broth-like soup and finishing with the rest of the fowl for an entrée. Today, chicken soup is still served as part of a Shabbat meal in most Jewish homes, at festivals and weddings and as a general cold weather pick-me-up. Accompaniments can include cooked lokshen (vermicelli or egg noodles), kreplach (three-cornered “Jewish ravioli” filled with onion and minced beef or chicken), ravioli or knaidlech at Passover (matzoh balls) or even an egg-glazed puff pastry crust baked onto individual bowls of soup in a hot oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
