My Grandma had a giant pantry in her utility room stocked with dry goods and canned goods, which I suppose were in case of the next world war or disaster. And on a shelf were two or three boxes of Matzo Meal that just sat there for years and years. Never once did my Grandpa or Grandma serve matzo ball soup or make anything with it, it just sat in the pantry. I had no idea what the stuff was, but was puzzled by the name at such a young age… I thought Matzo was a brand name. Still haven’t eaten a matzo ball in all my years.
My stepfather’s secret to making large matzo balls that are also fluffy–poke a hole through the middle of them with a slim skewer. You don’t notice the hole after they expand, but it allows the broth to get to the middle of them, so they’re not dense and hard in the center when they’re that big.
A kosher caterer of my previous acquaintance told me that she tends to underseason food because in her experience, the more she seasons her food, the fewer the guests who will eat it. Essentially, she doesn’t want people to question the level of kashrut, so she keeps her seasoning very, very basic, and basic = bland.
My Tante Mary, on the other hand, made matzo ball soup that a person would be happy to pay to eat. The broth was well-seasoned and there was so little substance to the matzo balls that it was like eating a cloud. IIRC, she swore by seltzer, or at least that’s what her recipe says. In fact, I think I’m enough of an adult to get her recipe from my grandmother.
