Get Ready for Rosh Hashanah: How To Pair Soup With Main Courses
Image by iStock
By Sarah Jones September 11, 2017
Rosh Hashanah is a celebratory time with friends, family, and delicious food. It is a wonderful time of the year to celebrate the Jewish new year surrounded by your loved ones. The kitchen will be bursting with flavorful fragrances as the meals and traditional candle lightings, prayers, and readings symbolize the acknowledgment of the past, while wishing all will be well for the future year to come. Celebrate Rosh Hashanah with the perfect feast for all to enjoy.
The Meals
The meals many create for Rosh Hashanah are simply mouth-watering. Red-wine braised beef brisket, roasted chicken with vegetables served with tzimmes, pot roast, salmon served with leeks, and much more accompanied by salivary side-dishes make up a dinner to remember as the new year begins. These beautiful creations are served with sides, soups and then later, sweet desserts in hopes for a sweet new year.
The Soups
A special dinner wouldn’t be complete without some of the staple soups that are served during Rosh Hashanah. Matzo ball soup is a favorite during this time, and chicken soup, butternut squash soup, and a few others are known to grace the table and guests during this celebratory time. Soup is generally served before the main course, and pairing the right soup with your masterpiece can mean the perfect meal.
Pairing Soup And Meal
When pairing the main course and soup, the denseness should be considered. Heavier meals such as briskets and pot roasts may need a lighter soup, or friends and family will be too full to enjoy anything else. Butternut squash soup or other squash soups are a bit heavier than chicken soup.
Pairing a heavy meal such as a brisket with a heavier soup such as a squash soup may be a bit too much. Try a lighter soup such as chicken soup, matzo ball soup or miso soup with heavier beef meals.
Fish or chicken often makes a table appearance during Rosh Hashanah as the main course. These dinners are usually lighter and can be paired with heavier and creamier soups such as squash soups or creamy mushroom soup. Your main dinner course and your soup can greatly complement each other with the perfect pairing. Enjoy a delicious and beautiful meal as you spend time and feast with your family.
Creating The Perfect Soup
Creating a Rosh Hashanah feast is all part of the fun. Everything from appetizers, soups, side dishes, amazing desserts, and challah are cooked or baked as part of the holiday meal. To get your perfect soup started, I recommend that you try using steel or ceramic cookware. Ceramic is an excellent option because it is non-stick, making the cleaning process much easier.
Stainless steel is also a great option because it does not leak any dangerous or harmful chemicals from coatings or the pan. Either choice will help your soup keep its consistency and quality taste as it cooks.
Happy New Year
The Jewish new year is a time to reflect and to hope and wish for a sweet new year which can be seen by all the amazing desserts and apples dipped in honey that are a tradition. Large meals are usually prepared complete with the main course and sides, soups, desserts, and appetizers. Matzo ball soup, as well as chicken soup, can be seen steaming from the table, and they put a perfect touch on the dinner.
Pairing your main meal and your soup is easy if you consider the consistencies and the denseness of each. Heavier soups can be paired with a lighter main course such as fish or chicken for a good balance. Enjoy this time with family and friends, and enjoy a marvelous meal.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
