Passover: A Celebration of Food and Family
Passover is the eight-day holiday that commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt. It’s also a time for family and friends to gather to celebrate freedom and spring. The seder, or ritual meal, is prepared using traditional recipes, and includes a service that teaches the story of Moses leading the Jewish people into the Promised Land, and reminds us of the circle of life.
Both a serious and joyous time, the holiday is aplenty with delicious and zesty flavors. Specific foods symbolize aspects of the Passover story. For example, the bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery, charoset - a mixture of apples, nuts, and sweet wine - is a symbol of the mortar used in construction of the pyramids, and matzah - a flat, unleavened, cracker-like bread - serves as a reminder of the haste with which the Jews left Egypt (they had no time to wait for their bread to rise).
And so, with its mix of spring flavors and traditional dishes, the easy-to-prepare Passover menu is sure to be a crowd-pleaser as well as a source of conversation. Enjoy the following traditional Passover recipes:
Pesach Sweet Potato Tzimmes
5 large sweet potatoes
5 large carrots
1 cup pitted prunes
cinnamon, to taste
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup honey
3 sweet apples
- Cook sweet potatoes and carrots, mash with prunes and spices, to taste.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish. Melt butter and mix with honey. Peel and slice apples.
- Alternate layers of mashed vegetables and apples in the casserole dish, with honey dribbled over each layer. End with a layer of mashed vegetables. Bake for 45 minutes.
Matzo Brie
3 sheets matzo
2 large eggs
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
butter, for frying
In a bowl, break up the matzo and pour over boiling water. Allow matzo to soak for 3 minutes, then drain. Fork-whisk the eggs and stir into matzo. Season to taste. In a skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Cook matzo mixture on both sides until browned. Serve with honey, syrup, cinnamon, sugar, or preserves.
Traditional Apple-Walnut Charoset
3 medium Gala or Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts, toasted
½ cup sweet red wine (or sweet grape juice)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and store at room temperature.
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