Herby, Goose-Fat Matzo Balls in Vegetable Broth

I like to serve my matzo balls and soup with a thin slice of toasted crusty bread and a hunk of chopped herbs.

Winter flavors from the south of France counterbalance a timeless staple of Jewish soul food

Having grown up in New England, I can tell you one thing with certainty: we like food that fights off the terrible weather. Matzo balls get us through bitter gray cold, wet snow turning to ice too fast, snotty throat-searing sickness and relatively serious seasonal depression.

What I like so much about matzo balls is that they’re not only the perfect way to ween off Prozac during the deepest 4:30pm dark of December, but they’re also wildly unfussy. As long as the batter is light and mixable before it goes into the fridge—make sure it tastes good, too—there’s little margin for error.

My crushed up matzo is bound together by goose fat, eggs and quite a bit of soda water (grandma’s dirty, little secret). I load them up with finely chopped herbs and stems to bring in freshness and a bit of a crunch. I also roll them larger than I should, which is why they’re not Instagram-perfect circles in the picture above: but I’m a risk-taker.

Although matzo balls are a classic soul food that can appear big and dense, they should be light and aerial like Alpine skiers. If they don’t float during the process of boiling, something has gone horribly wrong. (I would bet that your batter wasn’t light enough before refrigeration.) And while Jewish Americans nearly systematically use chicken fat as their schmaltz—rendered poultry fat—I’m going with goose fat this winter.

Compared to chicken fat, goose fat is nuttier, fruitier, a bit lighter and more complex. Goose fat is also what Ashkenazi Jews in the shtetls of eastern Europe used as the basic building block for most foods because geese were cheaper than chickens, and I want to bring it back. Also, let’s be honest: living here in Marseille, I’m pandering to the French and they love their goose fat.

Another bold change I’ve decided on: matzo balls are generally served in chicken broth, but I forego meat and bone because mine are already rich in fat. So, I counterbalance them with an earthy broth that should evoke winter in Provence: celery, carrots, radishes, bay leaves and juniper berries. I go heavy on the celery—both the stalks and the leaves—because it’s in peak season and it brings a flavor to the broth that I can only describe as, well, Jewish.

Note that the matzo balls should not be boiled in the broth, because it will affect the taste and make the liquid cloudy. Boil them separately in water and then add the broth after.

I like to serve my matzo balls and broth with a nice chunk of fresh herbs and a thin slice of toasted crusty bread, to bring in a crunch—and add a visual dimension to a relatively simple dish. Store uneaten matzo balls easily in the fridge, in the liquid they’ve boiled in, for the next few days without worry.

And you don’t even need the dread of a New England winter to enjoy them.

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Serving: For up to 8 people (3 balls each + testers)

Ingredients:

Matzo balls—
2 cups of matzo meal
1 cup of very finely chopped herbs, stems included (parsley, cilantro, whatever is available)
3 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp ground pepper
10 eggs
2/3 cups goose fat
Up to 1 cup soda water

Broth—
2 yellow onions, halved
Celery leaves and stalks (2 bunches)
2 large radishes or 4 small radishes, peeled and halved
4 carrots
2 bay leaves, fresh or dry
Handful of juniper berries
Handful of peppercorn
4 tsp Kosher salt
Water

Preparation:

1. (The day of or the night before:) Mix matzo meal with herbs, salt, pepper and eggs. Add in goose fat and mix again. Now, gradually add in up to a cup of soda water until the mix is loose and has a consistency not much heavier than pancake batter. Put in the refrigerator and leave it for at least four hours.

2. Meanwhile, start your broth and fill a large pot generously with water, making sure that everything is covered. Bring the pot to a simmer and let it sit for about four hours as well, and strain when ready. Refrigerate or put aside on stove for now depending on when you plan to serve.

3. (Before serving:) Have a bottle of olive oil handy, find a little bit of space and grab some baking trays. Oil up your hands and get started rolling your balls—make sure they’re not too big, but about the size of a small meatball—and place them on the tray. Oil your hands constantly. Finish rolling and head over to the stove with your trays.

4. Heat up broth, add a dash of white vinegar and salt if you want some extra taste and keep it to the side for now, it will not touch your matzo balls until you’re ready to serve. Add your matzo balls to a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes. Make sure there’s enough space in the pot because they’ll expand to about twice the size. Test a matzo ball after 20 minutes to see if it’s cooked through. If not, babysit the pot and keep testing every few minutes because if the balls overcook they will become crumbly.

5. Serve three balls in a bowl and cover with your broth. Garnish with chopped herbs. Add a thin slice of toasted crusty bread right in the bowl if you like.