DELISH MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020
Jeanmarie Calleri’s chicken soup, shown here with lumache pasta, is a traditional take on her mother’s classic recipe.
especially Jewish, Amish, and Mennonite
settlers, traveled with a few beloved pos-
sessions and a wealth of recipes.
Scotland’s most famous chicken
soup, called Cock-a-leekie, has rice, leeks,
and prunes in it. Poland’s celebrated
Rosoi, not only uses chicken, but Polish
cooks also add a beef bone, some turkey
bones, and cabbage.
Legend has it that chicken soup was
so much a part of Jewish communities
throughout the northeastern United
States, that it came to be known as “Jew-
ish penicillin” because of the theory that
it was the best dish to have to fight the
common cold. Even if was only from sip-
ping the broth with some crackers added.
I’m not going to disagree. Some
people eat raw garlic in the belief that its
antibiotic properties will send a cold reel-
ing. Others eat crushed ice with a spoon
to fight a fever.
Maybe they work, maybe they don’t.
Neither is my choice. You’ve certainly
guessed what my choice is.
Growing up, the leader of the kitchen
in my house was my mother, Geraldine,
who cooked meals for six children (three
boys, three girls) and my father. When
I think about the variety of meals she
prepared, I’m astonished.
Peeking through the pleasant cloud
of memories are always thoughts of my
mom’s chicken soup. Her’s was as classic
as classic could be. And, if there was a
recipe, and I don’t know that one was
ever written down, it’s irrelevant.
The key to my mom’s chicken soup
was an old hen, well beyond its prime.
Neighborhood butcher shops sold them.
A whole, aged bird was all it took to
create magic. The smell of the chicken
simmering in copious amounts of
water, surrounded by a peeled onion, a
pound each of coarsely chopped carrots
and celery (with the leaves left on the
latter), one tomato tossed in as a small
flavor enhancer, and salt with minimal
pepper was food potency. We were not a
peppery family.
Pride of place went to the broth,
which simmered on the stove for six
hours.
There were also the fun shapes
of Gioia soup macaroni, which were
cooked separately and added to the
bowl before the hot mixture of chicken
goodness and vegetables was ladled
on top. Ditilani. Stars. Rings. Acini de
pepe. Little shells. Cartwheels. And,
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