88 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2024 J N H ave you ever craved a bowl of hot matzah ball soup, but had to go without because you weren’t able to make it from scratch or journey to a deli? Those days are over, thanks to newly available NOOISH instant matzah ball soup. The product is packaged in a single-serving cup, and after adding water and microwaving for two minutes, it provides a delicious, piping hot and elevated bowl of matzah ball soup, including fluffy matzah balls in a rich broth. NOOISH is vegetarian and certified kosher by the Chicago Rabbinical Council and is available to order in time for the High Holidays to send as a hug-in-a-cup or to be prepared en masse for holiday meals. The instant matzah ball soup is the first prod- uct from the NOOISH brand of modern Jewish comfort food. Sarah Nathan, 37, originally from Orange County, California, and currently based in Chicago, launched the brand to address a need that wasn’t being met: “All the time I hear people say, I love matzah ball soup, I hate making it, or I don’t know how to make it, and I would eat it more often if it was more easy and accessible.” Sarah has almost a decade of diverse experi- ence in the consumer-packaged goods industry in start-up, corporate and retail roles, and has worked as a consultant, using her expertise to guide new founders in the industry. She has also worked as the culinary coordinator at the B’teavon Jewish food retreat and as one of the producers of the Great Big Jewish Food Fest, a 10-day virtual festival showcasing the diversity of the Jewish community that took place in May 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic and was streamed to 25,000 people. The idea for the brand came to Sarah after the Great Big Jewish Food Fest. “So many people wrote to us and said, ‘I have never felt so con- nected to my culture, but how can I continue to do this? This programming is making me excited about who I am in a way that I normally don’t connect with.’” Sarah was motivated to replicate the food fest experience in a product and was inspired by brands that were elevating other cultures’ foods. It took almost two years to think of the right prod- uct that could reach beyond the kosher aisle. She identified key criteria: not-holiday-specific, non-perishable, long shelf life, lightweight. It had to be something that most people, whether they’re Jewish or not, have already heard of, maybe have tried. That led her to the idea of making matzah ball soup into an instant soup cup. The product fits with current trends in elevat- ed, intentionally made grab-and-go food with global flavors. After landing on instant matzah ball soup as a product, it took another year and a half to develop a process to make it shelf-stable, which had not been done before. Sarah was ener- gized by this opportunity for innovation. “How often do you get to invent something?” she said. NOOISH enables matzah-ball-soup lovers to obtain kosher, shelf-stable matzah ball soup for themselves or to share with their loved ones. While people have previously sent matzah ball soup using websites like spoonfulcomfort.com or goldbelly.com, or through delis like Zabar’s or Zingerman’s, these options typically send two quarts of frozen soup, which either need to be eaten right away or frozen and tend to be very expensive. In contrast, NOOISH is available in a shelf-sta- ble six-pack, which, including shipping, will cost a third of the price of these alternatives, and recipients can eat one and save the rest in their pantry for when they want them later. In partic- ular, NOOISH provides a great opportunity to support college students on campus who are away from home, and Sarah hopes to partner with Hillels to bring matzah ball soup to students who are sick or otherwise in need of comfort. In the next year, Sarah hopes to build the community and the brand and has ideas for new products and collaborations cultivating Jewish joy. “I really want to show 15 million Jews 15 mil- lion ways to be Jewish. This is a way to bring an exciting, inclusive brand out into the world.” NOOISH is currently available as a six-pack of single-serving cups, with more options to come. Learn more about NOOISH at www.nooish.co and follow NOOISH on Instagram at @ nooishfoods. FOOD NOOISH serves up matzah ball soup in an instant. NOOISH serves up matzah ball soup in an instant. Ready-to-Roll Instant Bowl JOELLE ABRAMOWITZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER Sarah Nathan