Matso Ball Soup

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated ye fifth day of ye month of June in ye year 2001 of ye
Christian Error,  ye squire Barry Popik writeth:

> MATZOTH BALLS
>
>     OED has 1950 for "matzo balls."  Is that their final answer?
>     From Clementine Paddleford's column in the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 25
> March 1937, pg. 24, col. 7:
>
>  _Passover Dinner Menu_
>  (...)
>     MATZOTH BALLS

Try The Jewish Manual, or Practical Information in Jewish & Modern Cookery,
WIth a Collection of Valuable Recipes & Hints Relating to the Toilette
("edited by a Lady", London, T. & W. Boone, 1846), as reprinted in the 1983
facsimile edition (ISBN 0-911389-00-8) by NightinGale Books of New York.
According to an Introduction written by Chaim Raphael for this facsimile
edition, "A Lady" was the pseudonym of Judith Montefiore (died 1862).

The exact phrase "matso ball" does not occur in this book, but it is
referenced indirectly in the following citation.
Note:  the second sentence of the quotation is used in the OED2 CD-ROM
edition as the 1846 quotation illustrating "matso soup" and "matso flour".
The page reference is given incorrectly; the quoted text appears on page 10
(the recipe and the title "matso soup" are on page 9).

 After describing how to make the soup stock, the recipe (on page 10) reads

 <begin quote>
Ten minutes before serving, throw in the balls, from which the soup takes its
name, and which are made in the following manner:
      Take half a pound of matso flour, two ounces of chopped suet, season
with a little pepper, salt, ginger, and nutmeg; mix with this, four beaten
eggs, and make it into a paste, a small onion shred and browned in a desert
spoonful of oil is sometimes added; the paste should be made into rather
large balls, and care should be taken to make them very light.
<end quote>

Note on spelling:
"matso" is used consistently in this book.  "desert spoonful" is I believe a
mistake for "dessert spoonful



This book also provides antedatings for

Eau de Cologne
egg-ball
fondu
Harvey's sauce
macaroni and cheese
sauce a la tartare
vegetable soup

I'm still checking the book and possibly may find additional antedatings.

fondu
in the glossary on page xiv <begin quote>
Fondeaux, and Fondus, are savoury kinds of soufles <end quote>  note: there
is an
acute accent on the "e" of "soufles".
recipe on page 102 title is "A FONDU" text reads "Make into a batter one
ounce and a half of potatoe flour, with the same quantity of grated cheese
and of butter, and a quarter of a pint of milk or cream;  add a little salt,
very little pepper, and the well-beaten yolks of four fine fresh eggs; when
all this is well mixed together, pour in the whites of the eggs, well whisked
to a froth; pour the mixture into a deep soup plate or dish, used expressly
for the purpose, and bake in a moderate oven.  The dish should be only half
filled with the fondu, as it will rise very high.  It must be served the
moment it is ready, or it will fall.  It is a good plan to hold a salamander
over it while being
brought to table."

The following recipe on page 102 is entitled "PETITS
FONDEAUS" and reads "Make a batter as for a fondu, but use rice flour or
arrow root instead of potatoe flour; add the egg in the same manner as for a
fondu, and pour the mixture into small paper trays fringed round the top.
The mixture should only half fill the trays or cases."
 Note the inconsistent spelling of "fondeaux" and that the spelling "potatoe"
is used.


Harvey's sauce   pages 4-5 (phrase is printed across the page break)
<begin quote>...the common browning may be used; it is made in the following
manner:    Put one pound of coarse brown sugar in a stew-pan with a lump of
clarified suet; when it begins to froth, pour in a wine-glass of port wine,
half an ounce of black pepper, a little mace, four spoonsful of ketchup or
Harvey's sauce, a little salt, and the peel of a lemon grated<end quote>

page 5 is a recipe for "ENGLISH MULIGATAWNY" which ends <begin quote>
flavouring it with a little Harvey's sauce and lemon pickle <end quote>

egg-ball
page 4, in a recipe for mock turtle <begin quote> Balls of force-meat, and
egg-balls, should be put in a short time before serving; <end quote>

julienne (def 2---vegetables cut into small thin strips)
.   page 5 is a recipe entitled "SOUP A LA JULIENNE".  The recipe reads
<begin quote> Take a variety of vegetables: such as celery, carrots, turnips,
leeks, cauliflower, lettuce, and onions, cut them in shreds of small size,
place them in a stew-pan with a little fine salad oil, stew them gently over
the fire <end quote>


vegetable soup
   page 11 has a recipe for "A FINE VEGETABLE OR FRENCH SOUP" which reads
<begin quote> Take two quarts of strong stock made of gravy beef, add to
this, carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, brocoli, peas and French beans, all
cut as small as possible, add a few lumps of white sugar, pepper, and salt,
let it simmer till the vegetables are perfectly soft, and throw in a few
force-meat balls.<end quote>

sauce a la tartare
   page 28 has a recipe for "SAUCE A LA TARTARE" which reads <begin quote>
Mix the yolk of an egg with oil, vinegar, chopped parsley, mustard, pepper,
and salt; a spoonful of pate de diable or French mustard, renders the sauce
more piquante.<end quote> "pate" has an acute accent over the "e" and I think
the word "de" should be "du".  The definition in the OED2 reads "a sauce made
of mayonnaise and..."; mayonnaise is made from egg yolk, oil, and vinegar as
in this recipe.

macaroni and cheese
  page 99 has a recipe for "MACCARONI AND CHEESE" which reads <begin
quote> Boil some maccaroni in milk or water until tender, then drain them and
place on a dish with bits of butter and grated Parmesan cheese; when the dish
is filled grate more cheese over it and brown before the fire. <end quote>  I
have never heard this dish called "macaroni cheese", only "macaroni and
cheese", so it is a new form of the phrase.


Eau de Cologne.   pages 201-202 have a recipe for "EAU DE COLOGNE" which
reads
<begin quote> Mix together one ounce of essence of bergamot, the same
quantity of essence of lemon, lavender, and orange flower-water, two ounces
of rosemary and honey-water, with one pint of spirits of wine; let the
mixture stand a fortnight, after which put it into a glass retort, the body
of which immerse in boiling water contained in a vessel placed over a lamp (a
coffee lamp will serve the purpose), while the beak of the retort is
introduced into a large decanter; keep the water boiling while the mixture
distils into the decanter, which should be covered <page 205> with cold wet
cloths, in this manner excellent Eau de Cologne may be obtained at a very
small expense.
<end quote>

Please note that the Merriam-Webster 10th Collegiate Dictionary, 1999
edition, page 364 column 1 contains an 1802 date for "eau de cologne"


     James A. Landau