When one of my sons was in elementary school, he came home from a playdate on a Friday and asked me if I could make him kubbeh like he just ate at his friend’s house. My response was to burst out laughing. I was never much of a balabusta, and homemade kubbeh was, and remains, way beyond my pay grade.
When he kept asking, I bought frozen kubbeh, and my husband made a chicken-based broth with tomato paste and some lemon juice, and that was my family’s kubbeh soup for many years. Until last week.
That’s when I tried kubbeh from chef Michael Cohen, 25, who has just opened The Kubbeh Factory with his wife, Sarah, out of his home in Jerusalem. Cohen has worked in several of Jerusalem’s top restaurants, including Machneyuda, and is currently on unpaid leave from Mamilla Rooftop.
Cohen, who describes himself as “half Moroccan, a quarter Egyptian and a quarter Syrian,” learned, as a little boy, to make kubbeh from his Syrian grandmother, Rivka Schachpar, who still makes it every week.
Remember my vegan friend Estelle? Well, she would do just fine here. There are two types of kubbeh, one filled with meat (10 kubbeh balls are NIS 49) and the other with mushroom (also 10 for 49). The mushroom kubbeh are vegan, as is the soup, which is based on beets and root vegetables. The soup comes as 1.5 liters for NIS 29, which can hold up to 30 kubbeh, Cohen says.
The kubbeh and soup come with written instructions telling you to keep the kubbeh frozen until after the soup is boiling, then add the kubbeh, boil again, simmer for 15 minutes, and serve immediately.
Most kubbeh soup in restaurants comes with three large kubbeh per bowl of soup. Cohen’s kubbehs are smaller, but with a larger proportion of filling, whether meat or mushroom, to dough. I liked the fact that I could really taste the meat, which went well with the sour notes of the soup. Both the meat and vegan kubbeh were delicious, although I did prefer the meat, which was delicately spiced. The two types have different shapes so you won’t make a mistake.
Cohen suggests that a main course portion of kubbeh is five to seven kubbeh balls with soup, depending on how hungry you are.
“If he likes to eat, then get seven,” he suggested.
You may find yourself eating more than you want to, because it’s just that good.
The Kubbeh Factory
Kashrut: Atara Ben Yosef
Order through the website: www.michaelcohencooking.com
Pickup: Jabotinsky 24, any day
Phone: 054-629-7368
Deliveries on Tuesdays and Fridays
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.