Back when I was a kid and I wanted to know what we were having for dinner, my mother’s response would often be “chaloimes mit lukshen” (literally noodles with dreams).
For a long time, my brother and I both thought this was some kind of food. Though we weren’t quite sure what food, we were certain it would be something good. Our mother only made tasty food.
As we got older and smarter we realized that , “chaloimes mit lukshen” was Mommy’s shorthand way of saying “Yes, supper will be ready soon but I don’t know what I’m making yet.” I wonder how that would look as a text message..
Though she’s a veritable kitchen genius, our Mother was always a shoot from the hip cook. Until I was a teenager, my mother never owned a cookbook .Even when she finally relented and bought one, a kosher Chinese collection, I can’t remember her even cracking the binding, let alone preparing one of it’s recipes.
That wasn’t her style. Her way was and is to take whatever was lying around at home and magically transform it into something delicious. Often what she’d make was tomato soup.
Rich and velvety thick, my mother’s tomato soup remains a family favorite, a classic comfort food that takes under five minutes to prepare. It perfect for busy days like now, before Yuntif. It isn’t as fast microwave pizza, but for real food this recipe is about as fast as it gets.
Interestingly during the, years when my mother was growing up, tomato soup making was a massive undertaking. Until 1928 when the process for turning tomatoes into juice was patented, there was no commercial tomato juice—this soup’s basic ingredient. The good balabusta made her own, stewing fresh tomatoes, possibly plucked from her garden and then forcing them through a food mill to create a pulpy syrup.
Women like my late grandmother gladly made the effort because tomato juice was widely regarded as a health tonic, the wheat grass shake of it’s day . In the prewar era, food wasn’t flown or even trucked across continents . Outside of tropical climes citrus fruits were scarce. Hence the humble tomato, a Latin American import brought to Europe and then the American colonies in the 17th century served as the major edible vitamin C source. In the early 20th century, tomato juice was routinely served in hospitals and prescribed by physicians as a remedy for indisposed babies.
In later years, scientists learned that the tomato also contains vitamins K and A as well as the anti-cancer anti-oxidant lycopene, more proof that our Bubbies knew what they were doing as they stirred their tomato soup. With tomato juice both cheap and available we can do the same, in minutes. Ain’t that a dream.
Ingredients
Flour, vegetable oil, sugar, tomato juice, water, rice
1. Saute together one and one half tablespoons flour (can use whole wheat) with two tablespoons oil for about a minute until they form a light brown paste (a roux or einbren, the traditional European soup thickener)
2. Add 3 litres or 2 46 ounce cans of tomato juice
3. Add one cup sugar
4. Add two cups water—if soup is too thick add another half cup.
5. Add one third of a cup of white rice.
Cook together for twenty minutes until the rice is soft.
Serve. Freezes well
Note: if you have leftover cooked rice, throw it in as the soup reaches a boil and serve immediately.
Don’t add raw brown rice though you can add cooked brown rice at the end.
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