OFF THE SHELF
Stock cubes provide a shortcut for Passover soup

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Among the dishes that appear at a Passover supper is chicken soup with matzo balls. Another must: gefilte fish, often served in a fish broth (see story).

Ideally, the broth for either dish is made from scratch, but many kosher cooks take a shortcut, using a broth made from kosher stock cubes. A common brand available here is Telma, from Israel, which makes a beef-flavor cube that is both kosher and pareve (approved to be served with either meat or milk dishes), as well as a chicken consomme that is kosher for meat, and vegetable and mushroom soup bases that are kosher, pareve and vegetarian. Knorr, which also makes kosher soup bases, has a fish base, too.

For a quick broth that's partly from scratch: In a pot, place 4 or 5 chicken pieces (or equivalent beef or fish with bones), 2-3 peeled and sliced carrots, 1 peeled and chopped onion and add 5 cups water (or more, if needed, to cover). You can add leeks, celery, fennel (anise) or other vegetables, herbs, peppercorns, parsley or garlic. Do not salt. To make a vegetarian broth, omit meat and use chopped, skin-on potatoes. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Drain and discard solid ingredients (except chicken, which will be nicely poached and can be reserved for other uses). Crush a stock cube in a small bowl and add a little hot broth to dissolve. Stir into hot broth and taste. Add another stock cube, if desired.

If you plug "Telma" and "soup" into a search engine such as Google, you'll find dozens of Web sites where you can mail-order a wider range of the products, including tahini, hummous and additional flavors of stock cubes or bottled stock powder.