1,000 Jewish Recipes (77 page)

Food staples that are
hametz
, or not kosher for Passover, are handled in differerent ways. Some people use up these foods before the holiday.
Hametz
products may also be locked in a cabinet for the duration of the holiday. The local rabbi symbolically "sells" this food to a person who is not Jewish and "buys back" the food after the holiday. Some families officially authorize the sale and purchase of the food, while in other families it is understood that the rabbi handles the transaction for them.

Finally the house is checked to be sure there are no bread crumbs. In a ceremony known as "inspecting for hametz," on the night before Passover, the head of the household checks the house for bread crumbs with a candle. If he finds any, the next morning they are burned, outdoors, in areas where local laws allow this. Some people might also include in the burning some
hametz
foods such as bread or cereal for this symbolic ritual.

Special Seder Foods

The day before Passover is spent cooking for the Seder and preparing the symbolic items for the Seder plate. This plate is often beautifully decorated and contains labeled sections for each food. The best known of these is the tasty haroset, a sweet and spicy spread made of fruits and nuts, of a reddish-brown color to represent the mortar and bricks the Hebrew slaves made in ancient Egypt. To recall the bitter lives led by the slaves, there is
Maror
, or bitter herbs, which can be fresh horseradish or bitter greens.

Beitza
, a roasted hard boiled egg, and
Zeroah
, a roasted lamb bone or poultry neck, appear on the plate to recall the animals brought to the High Priest at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in ancient Israel for the Passover sacrifice.
Karpas
, a celery stalk or a parsley sprig, reminds us that Passover is the Festival of Spring.

A separate plate contains the three matzos that will be eaten during the ceremonial part of the Seder. They are covered with a decorative matzo cloth.

The Tasting Ceremony During the Seder

Four glasses of wine is the traditional portion served to each person to drink during the Seder. The wine can be sweet or dry but must be kosher for Passover. In some families grape juice is substituted. When I was growing up, we always had sweet wine but our glasses were very small.

Following the instructions in the Haggadah, the first food to be tasted is
Karpas
, celery or parsley dipped in salt water. Then a small piece of matzo is tasted. The bitter herbs are tasted alone, then combined with some haroset and matzo.

Just before the meal, hard boiled eggs are dipped in salt water and tasted. After the meal is served, the children look for the
afikoman
or
afikomen
, a Greek-derived Hebrew word meaning a piece of matzo that the head of the household has hidden or that a child has stolen and hidden; the one who finds it gets a present. There are numerous explanations of what this broken matzo and its hidden half represent—the extreme poverty of the slaves in Egypt, the messiah who is yet to come, and the future redemption of the unfree, are a few. Some attribute a more practical rationale for hiding the matzo—this game keeps the children awake during the Seder. Tasting the
afikoman
is the last food of the Seder.

Cooking for the Seder

The Seder is a multi-course feast. After sitting at the dinner table and reading the Haggadah, which can take several hours, everyone is really hungry! Since you can't always know exactly how long the reading and chant-ing will take, it's convenient to plan a Seder menu of dishes that can be prepared ahead. For this reason, soups and braised dishes are traditional choices.

Chicken soup with matzo balls is a Passover favorite in many Ashkenazic families. In my family we love very light matzo balls made without chicken fat.

For a main course, I like to serve roasted or braised chicken or turkey. When I make a sauce or gravy, I thicken it with potato starch, the most important "flour" allowed for Passover for thickening sauces. Matzo stuffing is a popular accompaniment in our family.

I like to balance these hearty, old-fashioned foods with light, healthy fresh ones, including plenty of salads. Asparagus often finds its way into our menus as a side dish. This is in keeping with the theme that Passover is the "Festival of Spring."

Despite the restrictions on flour, Jewish cooks have developed an incredible variety of Passover desserts over the ages. Cakes, cookies, brownies, and pies are made using special Passover products. They don't taste exactly like those made during most of the year, but that is part of the reason they are appreciated.

The best known cakes are flourless nut cakes and sponge cakes. Macaroons and meringues are the traditional cookies. I love making these at home, although they are widely available in cans. To me, the flavor of these homemade treats is much better.

For specific Passover menu suggestions, see
Menus
.

= Pareve  
= Dairy  
= Meat

New Passover Celebrations

Celebrating Passover is very much a part of modern Jewish life. In some homes, celebrating the holiday has evolved into a time to get together for a family vacation. When I was in Paris, travel company advertisements proposed that families return to their Jewish roots in Morocco and Spain to celebrate Seders in those countries. American Jews might travel to such resort destinations as Las Vegas or participate in a Hawaiian "Passover in Paradise." In Israel several of my family members celebrate with a week-long Passover vacation in a luxurious hotel. The timing makes perfect sense; after all, Israeli children are on vacation during the holiday.

Haroset

Haroset is a sweet mixture of fruit, nuts, and spices prepared for the Seder, the ceremonial Passover dinner that commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. It is one of the special foods that appears on the ritual Seder plate. Haroset has a reddish-brown color to recall the mortar and bricks which the Hebrew slaves were forced to make during the days of the Pharaohs. During the Seder, the haroset is tasted along with grated fresh horseradish, of which the bitter taste is a reminder of the harshness of slavery.

In spite of these somber memories, haroset happens to be delicious and is the best-loved of the Seder foods. Children look forward to it as one of the treats of the holiday.

As an essential element of the Seder plate, haroset is one of the few dishes made by Jews around the world. Different Jewish communities and families within these groups have different recipes.

The Ashkenazic haroset recipe is a mixture of apples, walnuts, and wine. Sephardic (Mediterranean and Middle Eastern) Jews tend to favor dried fruits, especially dates, which give the haroset a rich texture and intense fruit taste. Jews from Iran add bananas. Popular nuts among Sephardic Jews are almonds and pine nuts.

Ashkenazic Haroset

³
⁄
₄
to 1 cup walnuts

2 to 3 tablespoons sugar

2 or 3 large apples, peeled, halved, and cored

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 to 4 tablespoons sweet red wine

1.
Grind walnuts with 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until fairly fine, leaving a few small chunks. Transfer to a bowl.

2.
Grate apples on large holes of a grater. Add to nut mixture. Stir in cinnamon. Gradually stir in enough wine to make a thick spread. Add more sugar if desired.

3.
Spoon into a serving bowl. Serve at room temperature or cold, as a spread with matzos.

Sephardic Haroset

8 ounces pitted dates, coarsely chopped

¹
⁄
₂
cup almonds, coarsely chopped

1 sweet apple such as Golden Delicious or Gala, peeled, halved, and cored

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 to 4 tablespoons sweet red wine

¹
⁄
₂
cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

1.
Halve dates and remove any pits or pit fragments. Put dates and almonds into a medium bowl.

2.
Grate apple on large holes of a grater. Add to date mixture. Stir in cinnamon, then gradually stir in enough wine to make a thick spread. Spoon into a serving bowl. If using, garnish with toasted pine nuts. Serve at room temperature or cold, as a spread with matzos.

Note:
Toasting nuts at home is easy. For small amounts, a toaster oven is most convenient. To toast pine nuts, preheat oven or toaster oven to 350°F. Toast pine nuts in oven 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a plate.