THE liETROIT:JEWISH NEWS
12 Friday, December 4, 1981
'Soups' From Israel Is a Gift to the Gourmet in Hebrew, English
Israel is an inspirer of
pioneering. Lots of new
ideas emanate from the
Jewish state. There is an
Hebraic flavor stemming
from Jerusalem the Golden
and the creative embraces
every conceivable life as-
pect.
Now it is in the kitchen,
from chefs, lending status
for the gourmet.
It is in a recipe book de-
voted entirely to soups and
it is in two languages, in the
original Hebrew with the
English translations on the
opposite pages.
- "Soups" is the title of
the book and it has just
been issued by Triad
Publishing Co., P.O. Box
13096, Gainesville, Fla.
32604.
Its origin is the Hakafri
Restaurant near Herzliya,
some 10 miles from Tel
Aviv.
"Soups" is authored by
Rena Franklin. It was
translated by Yehudit Ven-
ezia. Every page has an
appropriate drawing and
the pictures are by Daniel.
In the 144 pages of this
book there are nearly as
many recipes of soups
served in the Hakafri Res-
taurant.
Author Rena Franklin
was formerly personal chef
to the American Ambas-
sador to Israel and has ca-
tered for a host of Israeli
cabinet members and heads
of state. She teaches gour-
met classes in French, In-
dian, Persian, Chinese, Ita-
lian, Scandinavian, and
vegetarian cooking. Cur-
rently, she is writing her
second book, on Moroccan-
Jewish cuisine.
Here is how her "Soups" is
best defined:
The book's delightful de-
sign is decidedly Israeli: it
reads from front to back in
English and from "back to
front" in Hebrew, giving the
cook the Hebrew transla-
tion for each recipe on the
facing page.
Sixty kosher recipes
representing cuisines
from a variety of coun-
tries feature the author's
original creations as well
as traditional favorites,
including three varia-
tions of chicken soup.
A few notables include a
hearty Soup Turino, made
with eggplant, green pep-
per, tomatoes, and scallions;
Author Recalls the Soviet Gulag
By ARNOLD AGES
"Tell me, Emiot, how
shall we ever write about all
this when they let us out of
here? All the accepted ca-
nons of literature, all the
familiar approaches to the
human heart, have proven
false. What similes shall we
use in our poems? Every-
thing will sound banal, sac-
charine, and contrived com-
pared with our actual ex-
periences."
That rhetorical question
was posed to Yiddish author
Israel Emiot by Moishe
Broderson during a quiet
interlude in the Gulag. It
was found in Emiot's poig-
nant recollections of the
years this "Jewish
nationalist" spent as a pris-
oner in various labor camps.
Emiot's memoir, "The
Birobidzhian Affair (Jewish
Publication Society), is also
an answer to Broderson's
lament. The latter had said:
"For they havc killed the
beauty of a sunset, the
blueness of the sky, the . be-
witching sadness in a
woman's eyes." The "they
refers to the warders of Sta-
lin's prison empire )vho bes-
trode their jurisdictions
tuated by mutual suffering,
is deftly drawn out.
The Yiddish writer Is
rael Emiot has had the
last word, however. His
saga of life in the camps is
not only an artistic
triumph but an eloquent
political testimony to the
vacuousness of the Soviet
regime.
Not even the callous
Gulag guards could stamp
out the vision of a sensitive
man and Emiot was surely
one of the latter and he
sought in this slim volume
to celebrate the inner
beauty that animates men's
souls. The commissars de-
stroyed the sunsets; they
could not annihilate the
still small spark within
their victims.
Emiot's reflection of that
spark manifests itself in
different ways throughtout
the narrative. The descrip-
tion of the camaraderie
among prisoners of different
national groupings, ac-
tuated by mutual suffering,
is deftly drawn out.
As a memoir of the Gulag
despair this book shares
with others in the genre the
horror expressed at men's
cruelty, inhumanity and
sadism.
Yet that is only one
focus in Emiot's tale.
There is also human
interest, shrewd
psychological analyses,
even humor. There were
a number of Chinese
prisoners among the zeks
(Gulag residents who had
the misfortune to end up
in the Soviet vice at the
conclusion of the Second
World War).
The NKVD (forerunner of
the KGB) rulers of the
camps put the Chinese into
menial jobs in the kitchen
and laundry. They knew lit-
tle Russian but they had a
good sense of humor. Emiot
recalls that when asked
why they had been impris-
oned each would respond
with the only Russian ex-
pressions they knew: "Ya
shpion" — "I am a spy!".
-
Emiot also manages to
abstract humor from the
one time he was really close
to execution — after strik-
ing and injuring a camp
guard. When the guard had
recovered and Emiot was
sent back to the guard's
batallion, the poor Jewish
prisoner, anticipating
death, put his affairs in
order and made the appro-
priate bequests to his fellow
prisoners.
When the guard finally
saw him he said, "Why
didn't you tell us that you
were one of us?" (The attack
on the guard legitimized
Emiot as a simple felon —
not a despised "political.")
The best part of Emiot's
autobiographical sketch
concerns the political
schizophrenia that grip-
ped the Soviet Union in
the immediate post-war
period. Following the
party line was perilous
because the line kept
changing without notice.
Emiot himself was jailed
for professing "Jewish
nationalism" although
during one of his interro-
gations he was able to
quote a speech endorsing
the concept by the
president of the Soviet
Union.
The inhabitants of the
Gulag where Emiot was
sequestered for eight years
were there for a variety of
nosensical reasons: incau-
tious remarks in letters sent
abroad, favorable refer-
ences to the state of Israel,
injudicious comments about
comrade Stalin, and a host
of other pecadilloes so in-
significant that to repeat
them is to participate in the
Kafkaesque world which
sponsored them.
Emiot survived the
Gulag, went off to Poland
and finally in the late 1950s
emigrated to Rochester,
N.Y. where he pursued a
modest writing career in
Yiddish. It is fortunate in-
deed that his poignant tale
had been rescued from rela-
tive obscurity through a
sensitive translation by
Max Rosenfeld.
a delicate Cucumber-
Spinach Soup; and a rich
and satisfying Oriental
Potato Soup — tender beef,
matchstick potatoes,
sesame seeds, and soy sauce
in a beef broth.
Some others need to be
tasted to be appreciated,
such as Carver Cream, a
cold, spicy peanut butter
soup and Franklin's Al-
mond Soup, seasoned with
dry mustard, sweet paprika,
nutmeg, thyme, ground
cloves, and fresh garlic.
These are soups that
taste as good with pre-
pared stock mixes, as the
author recommends, as
they do with homemade
broth. Using a food proc-
essor or blender, virtu-
ally every recipe can be
made inside of 30 min-
utes, and many much fas-
ter.
"Soups" is easy to use:
each recipe is complete on
one page; ingredients are
given in bold type; the in-
structions are clear; and the
1:1 1A1 17113
Fish Soup
In a soup pot place:
1 1/2 kilos fish bones and
heads (31/4 lbs.)
2 liters cold water (8 cups)
1 t. fennel seeds
Bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer for 30 min-
utes.
Strain.
Saute:
1 cup onion, chopped
1 /2 cup chopped parsley
In:
6 T. butter
Until the onion is soft, but not browned.
Stir in:
3 T. flour
Mix well and cook for a minute or two.
Add:
the strained fish broth
1 package frozen chopped
spinach
8 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 /4 t. each cinnamon, cloves,
ginger
1 /2 t. cumin
1/2 t. rosemary
1 1/2 t. curry powder
Cook for 30 minutes.
Garnish with:
chopped scallions
Green Mountain
Chicken Soup
In a soup pot, melt:
4. T. margarine
Add, and cook until tender, but not
brown:
4 T. chopped onion
4 T. chopped celery
Stir in:
4 T. flour
Cook without coloring for 2-3 minutes.
Add:
1 liter chicken broth (4 cups)
1 cup slivered chicken breast
Cook gently for 20 minutes.
Add:
2 cups non-dairy creamer
1 /4 cup stuffed green olives,
sliced
1 /4 cup slivered black olives
Bring to serving temperature.
Serve garnished\with:
chopped parsley
chopped scallions
Avocado Soup
Cook together, slowly, 5 minutes:
1 /2 liter pareve chicken stock
(2 cups)
1 small clove garlic, crushed
(or 2 T. finely chopped onion)
Mix with:
1 cup ripe avocado
1 cup sour cream
1 cup light cream
Blender mixture.
Heat all together.
Serve with:
chopped scallions
paprika
American equivalents to
the metric measurements
are conveniently listed at
each point of use. An index
cross references recipes -
both by name and by major
ingredients.
For a merited apprecia-
tion of this most interesting
book it is necessary to know
how its contents are intro-
duced to reader and house-
wife. Here are samples
taken at random fr ,-ni
"Soups," the Hebrew t ,40
and their translations:
Iva 41n
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tsnr, trn ults
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rot: 1 /2
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: 'Din , 8 12
pvz "'on
:
la-'"lain 1100 4
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rmp illtZ 4
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rims rIpinn rivnr 11 70: 2
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mo7NTint:D
pro
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1/1712M 71/3
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riv pnr: ntr', 1/2
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1 7X5 nu:: 2 1t4)
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prztr I VO 1
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