MATZAH BALLS WITH MUSHROOMS
AND JALAPEÑOS IN BROTH

From Mexican Today: New and
Rediscovered Recipes for Contemporary
Kitchens by Pati Jinich (Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, 2016).
1 cup matzah ball mix
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
1½ tsp. salt, or to taste
4 large eggs
½ cup canola or safflower oil, divided
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sparkling water (optional)
½ cup white onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 jalapeño chilies, seeded if desired and
finely chopped, more or less to taste
½ pound white and/or baby bella (crem-
ini) mushrooms, cleaned, dried, part of the
stem removed, thinly sliced
8 cups chicken broth, homemade or
store-bought

In a large mixing bowl, combine the
matzah ball mix, parsley, nutmeg and ¾
tsp. salt.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs
with 6 Tbsp. of vegetable oil and 2 Tbsp. of
sesame oil. Fold the beaten eggs into the
matzah ball mixture with a spatula. Add
the sparkling water if you want the mat-
zah balls to be fluffy, and mix until well
combined. Cover the mixture and refriger-
ate for at least 30 minutes.
In a large soup pot, bring about 3 quarts

instead of serving it with horse-
radish, she served her version
with pico de gallo.
Sephardic Jews fleeing the
Spanish Inquisition first came
to Mexico more than 500 years
ago. Larger waves of Jewish
immigrants arrived over the past
150 years, most of them from
Eastern Europe, Syria and the
former Ottoman Empire. Today,
the Jewish population in Mexico
is close to 50,000, most of them
living in Mexico City.
So the idea of Mexican-Jewish
fusion is not something new for
Mexican Jews like Jinich; it was
part of life while she was growing
up. For example, Jinich points
to Gefilte Fish a la Veracruzana,
which has a sauce of tomatoes,
capers, pickled chilies, olives,
cilantro and parsley.
“The Jewish community
thought of using it for fish patties
— gefilte fish,” she said. “So that’s
a standard — a must — in many
Jewish Ashkenazi homes. Instead
of eating the gefilte fish cold
with aspic, which you need an
acquired taste to love, Mexican-
style gefilte fish is served warm,
in that thick, spicy tomato broth.
And it’s really irresistible.”
Jinich, 45, traces her roots to

salted water to a rolling boil over high
heat. Bring heat down to medium and
keep at a steady simmer. With wet hands,
shape the matzah ball mix into 1- to 1
½-inch balls and gently drop them into
the water. Reduce heat to low, cover and
simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes, or
until matzah balls are completely cooked
and have puffed up.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp.
oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add
the onion, garlic and chilies and sauté
for 4 to 5 minutes, until they have soft-
ened a bit. Stir in the sliced mushrooms,
add ¾ tsp. salt, stir and cover the pan.
Steam the mushrooms for about 6 to 8
minutes, remove the lid and continue to
cook uncovered until the liquid in the
pan evaporates. Add the chicken broth
and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust
seasoning. Add the cooked matzah balls
(use a slotted spoon if transferring from
their cooking water) and serve. Makes 8
servings.

GEFILTE FISH A LA VERACRUZANA

A standard in Jewish homes across
Mexico. Courtesy of Pati Jinich.
Gefilte Fish Patties:
1 pound red snapper fillets, no skin or
bones
1 pound flounder fillets, no skin or bones
1 white onion (about ½ pound), quartered
2 carrots (about ¼ pound), peeled and
roughly chopped
3 eggs

Poland and central Europe —
her grandparents fled pogroms
and immigrated to Mexico City
in the early 20th century. As a
young adult, she became an
immigrant herself, following her
Mexican-Jewish husband to the
United States 20 years ago. Jinich,
now a mother of three boys, lives
in Washington, D.C., where her
television show, currently in its
sixth season, originates in her
home kitchen.
Although Jinich is a natural
in the kitchen and on cam-
era, she began her career as a
policy analyst, focused on Latin
American politics. But her
passion for food — and espe-
cially the cuisine of Mexico —
brought her to culinary school
in 2005. Before becoming a
chef, she taught Mexican cook-
ing to friends and neighbors
while living in Dallas in the late
1990s and served as a produc-
tion assistant on another PBS
food series, New Tastes From
Texas, a show that featured
guest hosts such as Mexican
food pioneers Diana Kennedy
and Patricia Quintana.
Jinich has published two
cookbooks, Pati’s Mexican
Table: The Secrets of Real

½ cup matzah meal
2 tsp. salt, or to taste
½ tsp. ground white pepper, or to taste
Red Sauce:
3 Tbsp. safflower or corn oil
½ cup white onion, chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
2 Tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. salt, or to taste
¼ tsp. ground white pepper, or to taste
1 cup Manzanilla olives stuffed with
pimientos
8 pepperoncini peppers in vinegar brine/
chiles güeros en escabeche, or more to
taste
1 Tbsp. capers

For the Gefilte Fish Patties: Rinse the
fish fillets under a thin stream of cool
water. Slice into smaller pieces and place
in the food processor. Pulse for 5 to 10 sec-
onds until fish is finely chopped but hasn’t
turned into a paste. Turn fish mixture
onto a large mixing bowl.
Place the onion, carrots, eggs, matzah
meal, salt and white pepper in same bowl
of food processor. Process until smooth

Mexican Home Cooking (2013)
and Mexican Today: New
and Rediscovered Recipes for
Contemporary Kitchens (2016).
And her television show, which
screens all over the world,
has been nominated for two
Emmys and two James Beard
Awards, the Oscars of the food
world.
In short, Jinich has become
a 21st-century ambassador to
Mexican cuisine in the United
States. But she brings a modern
sensibility to the foods of her
native country, which are being
rediscovered with renowned
chefs such as Denmark’s René
Redzepi of Noma, who is open-
ing a satellite of his famed res-
taurant in Mexico, and Enrique
Olvera, who has been featured
on Netflix’s popular series
Chef ’s Table.
Jinich sees the culinary
world’s recent attention to
Mexico as inspiring.
“For a long time, everyone
took Mexican food for granted,”
she explains. “It took this
new cadre of chefs looking at
Mexican cuisine and taking all
the traditional elements and
presenting them in a more
sexy, modern way. Not only

and turn onto the fish mixture. Combine
thoroughly. Set aside.
For the Red Sauce: Heat the oil in a
large cooking pot over medium-high
heat. Add the chopped onion, and let it
cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until
soft and translucent. Pour the crushed
tomatoes into the pot, stir and let the mix
season and thicken for about 6 minutes.
Incorporate 3 cups water, 2 Tbsp. ketchup,
salt and white pepper, give it a good stir
and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to
low, to get a gentle simmer, as you roll the
Gefilte Fish Patties.
Place a small bowl with lukewarm
water to the side of the simmering tomato
broth. Start making the patties, about 2½
inches by 1 inch and about ¾-inch thick.
Wet your hands as necessary, so the fish
mixture will not stick to your hands. As
you make them, slide them gently into the
simmering broth. Make sure it is simmer-
ing and raise the heat to medium if neces-
sary to keep a steady simmer.
Once you finish making the patties,
cover the pot and turn the heat to low.
Cook them covered for 25 minutes. Take
off the lid, incorporate the Manzanilla
olives, pepperoncini peppers and capers.
Give it a soft stir and simmer uncovered
for 20 more minutes, so the gefilte fish will
be thoroughly cooked and the broth will
have seasoned and thickened nicely. Serve
hot with slices of challah and spiced-up
pickles. Makes about 20 patties.

for the outside to recognize
the richness and sophistica-
tion of Mexican cuisine, but
also for Mexicans. Mexicans
are so excited about their own
cuisine. Now, it’s going back to
the roots — sometimes to the
extreme — and really highlight-
ing what makes Mexican food
so unique. And I think Mexican
cuisine is having a very big
moment. There’s so much to
explore.”
With recipes such as
Asparagus, Mushroom and
Goat Cheese Enchiladas
with Pine Nut Mole Sauce or
Mexican Thanksgiving Turkey,
Jinich has an approach that is
more accessible than many of
the chefs currently helming the
Mexican dining scene. She lives
by the credo that any home
cook can bring the warmth
and color of Mexico into the
kitchen.
And although Jinich is
Jewish, her recipes are, for the
most part, Mexican. She did
not grow up attending Jewish
schools or eating kosher food.
At the same time, following
in the footsteps of her bubbie,
as well as an Austrian grand-
mother who taught her how to

jn

make matzah ball soup (recipe
above), she treasures the dishes
of her Mexican-Jewish reper-
toire.
“What happened with
Ashkenazi food, which is sort
of bland, is that it got blessed
with all the warmth and colors
and flavors of Mexico. It was
like a gift to Ashkenazi cuisine.”
“Blessed” is how Jinich also
describes her own multifaceted
identity. Despite feeling “shak-
en” by the current political cli-
mate in the U.S., she sees her-
self as simultaneously Mexican,
Jewish and American.
“I used to tell my children
as Mexican Americans, you’ve
been doubly blessed, but you’re
doubly responsible,” she says.
“You have to be proud about
being Mexican, and you have to
make Mexico proud, and you
have to make your Mexican
family proud. And at the same
time, you have to be grateful to
America and responsible as an
American citizen. And one can-
not forget the third element,
which is about being a Jew and
the Jewish values.”
It’s a recipe for life Jinich
clearly embraces. •

March 29 • 2018

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