Sonia Jeruchim's Potato Soup

During World Wars people sacrificed their families, their homes and their health. It has always amazed me how resilient people are at their most desperate times. When it comes to World War II and the Holocaust, being a Jew, I have a certain feeling as most Jews have about that time in our history. I am in awe when it comes to the survivors and their resilience to start a new life, move to a new country, start a family, learn a new language. Could we do that today? Could I/we move to a new country, learn a new language, get married and have kids all without having your family close by? Their stories are amazing and moving. Through all their suffering and eventual joy, they remember the recipes and foods of their past. It's what links the past and the present.

We take recipes for granted. If we can't find the specific cookbook you found that specific recipe in we google it. We are able to find a recipe for anything at the touch of keyboard. However, this instant access is very new to our society. Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents either had to memorize a recipe or have the cookbook marked to the very specific page and if a recipe was lost you hoped that someone had the recipe or a library was close by with that specific cookbook.

In every family, there are recipes that are passed down. In every family, the recipe has measurements as a glass of flour or an eggshell of oil. These measurements mean very little in today's world, where there are as many food blogs as there are sports teams and I love it. I love the variety, the experiments and the passion foodies have for the craft and love of food. When I look at these old recipes, I am amazed at people's memories of a particular recipe, how it tasted and their memory of it being made. These recipes in the Holocaust Remembrance cookbook Recipes Remembered by June Feiss Hersh are filled with these memories. These loving memories of family and amazing recipes are all in this fantastic cookbook.

When I found this cookbook on Amazon, I had to have it. Over a year ago, I emailed June Feiss Hersh and asked her if I could use some of her recipes. I was thrilled when she said Yes. June Feiss Hersh was able to take the glass of flour and eggshell of oil recipes and transform them into a recipes we can use.

I love all of the survivor's story and the story of Simon Jeruchim and his family. Simon and his wife were Hidden Children during the war. Hidden children relied on the kindness and bravery of non-Jewish families. Simon's wife Cecile was born in Belgium and by sheer luck she escaped the Nazi's by accompanying her friend to voice lessons. Cecile and her sister Anny hid in a Catholic Convent in Louvain, Belgium. Her brother Charly hid in the countryside. All three siblings survived and made their way to the United States. Their parents perished at Auschwitz. Cecile came to the United States and has become a published author. She married Simon and they had 2 daughters and 6 grandchildren.

Simon's story is a bit different. I felt close to Simon as my mother was a painter and the arts were her Temple. Simon and his family were living in Paris, France. His mother heard from her dentist that the Nazi's were going to arrest Jews in Paris. With much persuasion the family went into hiding the night the Nazi's came to Paris to arrest the Jews. Simon's parents, who were originally Polish immigrants to France, went into hiding with their children. Simon explains that a non-Jewish couple intervened and took the children into hiding. Simon's parents were arrested by the Nazi's and the French police and sent to Auschwitz where they perished. Simon and his siblings survived the war hiding with farmers in Normandy pretending to be Christians. It was the kindness of strangers that led them to survive the war. What was interesting about Simon's story was while in hiding a schoolteacher gave Simon a watercolor set and sketch pad. This changed the course of Simon's life. Today his paintings are in the U.S Holocaust Museum. After immigrating to the United States, Simon was drafted into the Korean war. He painted all through the war. His other paintings hand in the Korean War National Museum. Simon is also an author and wrote the book Hidden in France - A Boys Journey Under the Nazi Occupation and Frenchy - A Young Jewish-French Immigrant Discovers Love and Art in America - and War in Korea.

This recipe is from Simon's mother. He remembers it well and it after reading the recipe and directions, it sounds so yummy I had to make it. However, when I think of Potato soup, I think of a crisp fall day and the leaves turning and falling in the front yard. Its sweater weather and a cup of soup on the front porch is exactly what you crave. This soup, does just that it makes you want fall to come sooner than it does. It is also a great soup in the early spring on a rainy day. Either way, Simon's mother's recipe is delicious!

I changed the recipe just a bit, but its delicious both ways!

Ingredients:

4 Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cups / 48 ounces of water OR 32 ounces of Chicken Stock and 16 ounces of Water.
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
3 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
2 Tablespoon Cold Butter
3/4 / 3 3/8 ounces / 94 grams - All Purpose Flour

Directions:

Peel and dice the potatoes.

Boil the potatoes in either plain water or a combination of water and chicken soup in 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp onion powder and 1 tsp garlic powder till the potatoes are tender.
Combine flour and butter till it resembles crumble. I used a fork or pastry cutter.
Cook the butter mixture on low heat stirring constantly until the crumbs are a light brown. Let the roux cool. (I apologize, I forgot to take a picture during this step, but its really easy to figure out.)
When the potatoes become tender, stir the roux into the soup and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Salt and Pepper to taste.