Kubbeh Soup

Kubbeh soup is dumplings of fine semolina dough stuffed with spiced minced beef and onion, poached whole in a broth soured with lemon and coloured deep red with beetroot, until the dumpling shell turns translucent at the edges. Iraqi and Kurdish Jewish families carried it to Israel through the mass immigration of the 1950s, and it stayed a Friday-night dish — a big pot simmered ahead of time for a full table, the kind of cooking a market grill was never built to do.

What it really is

The dumpling is the work: semolina and a little flour are kneaded into a smooth, elastic dough, rolled thin, wrapped around a filling of minced beef, onion and warm spices, and sealed into a ball or a torpedo shape before it goes into the pot raw. The broth carries the rest of the dish — beetroot gives kubbeh selek its magenta colour and a mild sweetness, while chard and celery give the sourer kubbeh hamusta its greener, sharper cousin — simmered long enough for the semolina shell to turn glassy and tender without falling apart. A squeeze of lemon at the end sharpens whichever version is on the stove; the broth should taste distinctly sour, not merely savoury.

How it's served

• In a deep bowl, two or three dumplings to a portion, ladled full of broth and vegetables.
• With extra lemon wedges and sometimes a spoon of chilli on the side for guests who want more heat or more acid.
• As a Friday-night or Sabbath-eve main course, cooked in a large pot for an extended table rather than made to order.
• Rice on the side in many households, though the soup is a full meal without it.

How to write it on the menu

• Say which broth — beetroot or chard — since the colour and the flavour differ enough that a guest ordering "kubbeh soup" blind is really choosing between two different dishes.
• Note that the semolina dumpling carries wheat; there is no simple substitute that keeps the same texture.
• List it as a main course, not a starter portion — the dumplings make it heavier than the bowl size suggests.