Thanks to emigrants from North Africa, Passover is once again being celebrated in the town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which had a flourishing Jewish community until the fourteenth century. Now Jews reunite for the holidays, and at a recent Passover in one house, several couples got together for a traditional meal. Jocelyne Akoun, the hostess of this event, told me about a springtime soup filled with fresh vegetables and fava beans. Because I always have vegetarians at my own Seder, I have taken to making this refreshing and colorful soup as an alternative to my traditional matzo-ball chicken soup. If making the vegetarian version, sauté the onion in the oil in a large soup pot, then add 8 cups water, the bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and 1 teaspoon salt, and cook for about an hour. Then put through a sieve and continue as you would with the beef broth. Fresh fava beans are a sign of spring for Moroccan Jews, because the Jews supposedly ate fava beans, poor man’s meat, when they were slaves in Egypt.
Recipe information
Yield
about 10 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
If using meat, place the beef and bones in a large soup pot. Add the bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, add a teaspoon of salt, or to taste, and skim off any scum that rises to the top. Lower the heat, and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Step 2
Remove the bones, pour the liquid through a sieve, and return the broth to a clean soup pot. Discard the bones, but save the marrow to eat—the cook’s treat! Cut the beef into 1-inch cubes, and put back into the broth.
Step 3
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan, and sauté the onion until translucent. Transfer to the broth (or the water for vegetarian version; see headnote). Add the leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes, turnips, and cabbage, stirring after each addition. Season with turmeric (about 1/2 tablespoon, or to taste) and saffron.
Step 4
Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked. Add the fava beans, and cook for 5 more minutes. Adjust seasonings, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.
