At the Passover seder when we read the Haggadah, aka "The Telling," we tell the story of the Exodus of our people from Egypt. All of us. The wise and the simple, the athletic and the lame, the young and the old, the reluctant and the eager. Every one. Everyone committed to make this Journey together as one people.

As part of the ritual of solidarity with our past we ask the Four Questions. This month, I'd like to concentrate on the First Question:

Q: Why is this night different from all other nights?
A: For on all other nights we eat leavened bread ("chametz") and matzo; and tonight we may eat only matzo.

The central symbol of our unity, matzo, is unleavened bread, bread in its most basic and fundamental form, simply flour and water only. It is baked with speed, for we had no time to let the bread bake after leaving bondage. It's baked for 18 minutes, to be precise, from the beginning of the mixing to the finishing of baking and "shmura" (watched) carefully through every step to guarantee this time limit. 18 is "chai," the gematria number of "life", the time it was determined that leavening begins.

Why do I say matzo is a symbol of unity? After all, at the seder we break the afikomen. Matzo is often called "the bread of affliction" but in Hebrew it is "lechem oni," or "bread of the poor." Tonight, we are all poor, we have to leave, NOW, there's no time to ponder what material goods to take, we MUST leave the decadence, debauchery, and corruption of lavish Egypt behind, NOW. We break and lose the afikomen in the first part of the service, but in the concluding part we find it again. Brought together and whole again.

Anyone who's been following for a while know that word play is a favorite game in these parts. Like the fast preparation of the matzot I rush to point out that "Matzo/matzah" and "chametz" are anagrams (MTZH/KHMTZ) but with one important difference. The Hebrew letter "hey," the last letter in matzo/matzah breaks its left leg in "chametz" to become "chet," or the first letter of "chayt" or "sin." This tells us a couple of things: one is that sin is incomplete and unfinished, a broken act. The other is that the Exodus, even though hasty, hurried and abrupt, must be done carefully and in a certain order (or "seder") to be able to attain the Godly path set out for us to follow.

Our matzo recipes start with a light and lemonlicious sweet treat from Nana Gloria. These light pastry Pesach puffs are everyone's holiday favorite and a good substitute for the prohibited usual dry breakfast cereal.

Foodie Jocelyn Angels reminds us that even with this carb-loaded holiday it's possible to eat a balanced meal and experiment with a Sephardic dish all at the same time, although I believe kashkeval was probably the cheese in the original recipe. Those Atkinsinians -- as well as diabetics -- among us may wish to prepare this as a crustless kind of quiche, and sub in cauliflower for the potatoes.

One of The List's hard-working archivists, Annice Grinberg, brings us a versatile farfel cup. Make a large one for a salad, tostada-style, or fill with creamed fish or veggies for an elegant appetizer to a dairy meal. Add a mix of fried salami, scrambled eggs, bell peppers, onions to stuff them for a "Jerusalem Omelet Basket." Let your imagination go!

What's Pesach without kneidlach (matzo balls) floating blissfully in glimmering shimmering golden chicken soup? Pauline Miller demonstrates here how to make them in quantity with a savory sliding scale of ingredients. For untold centuries, there's always been the simmering controversy over whether it's "floaters or sinkers." These seem to run more to the floating end of the continuum; for more solid balls (which my tribe, apparently the 13th, the Late-for-Dinners, prefer) add 1/4 cup more matzo meal to the basic 10-ball recipe, reduce 1 egg and scale up and down accordingly.

Krimsel (P, KLP)
Source: "Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Kitchen," 1979
Serves: 6-8

3 matzot, soaked and squeezed very dry
1 tablespoon matzo meal
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons seeded chopped raisin
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped almonds
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
3 eggs, separated

Mix the matzot, raisins, almonds, egg yolks, matzo meal, sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold into the matzo mixture.

Heat the vegetable oil to 375 F. Drop the mixture by tablespoons and brown on both sides. Drain well. Serve warm, with stewed prunes flavored with orange juice.

Poster's Notes: The author [Joan Nathan] writes: "When my parents married, my German father asked my American mother to learn how to make one dish -- krimsel (chremzlach). Here is her American variation on a German theme. With leaven forbidden at Passover, krimsels are easy-to-make fritters with fruit. They can be made of matzo meal and filled with nuts and preserves; or, as in my family recipe, made from soaked matzo and nuts, with no jam filling. Either way, they are crispy and delicious!"

Posted by Nana Gloria
Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A

Pesach Spinach Bake (Mina) (D, KLP, TNT)
Source: "The Sephardi Culinary Tradition," Cape Town, 1984 by Elsie
Menasche
Serves: 8-10

4 sheets matzo
2 eggs beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bunches spinach, washed, dried and shredded
2 cups mixed grated cheese (Cheddar and Parmesan mix)
4 potatoes, boiled and mashed
3 eggs, beaten
salt to taste

Soak matzo in water to cover until soft, about 15 minutes. Squeeze out all excess water.

Mix matzo with 2 beaten eggs and seasoning and place half in an oiled ovenproof dish.

Mix spinach with 1and 1/2 cups cheese, mashed potato, 3 eggs and salt. Spoon over the matzo layer. Top with remaining matzo and cheese.

Bake at 180 C/350 F for 30 minutes until golden.

Posted by Jocelyn Angels
Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A

Farfel Cups (M/P, KLP, TNT)
Source: Adapted from an old Manischewitz flyer
Serves: 8

4 cups matzo farfel/ferfel; or 6 matzos, broken
1/2 cup margarine; or less
1/2 cup onion; minced
1/2 cup celery; minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons pareve chicken soup powder
1 egg; beaten
1/4 cup parsley; chopped
1-1/2 cups hot water
1 cup nuts; broken

Sauté veggies in margarine till tender. Add farfel/ferfel and toast lightly. Combine seasonings and water and add nuts.

Form into cups on an oiled baking sheet, using a 1/3 cup measuring cup to shape them.

Bake about 20 minutes at 375 F.

Posted by Annice Grinberg
Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A

Matzo Balls, Quantity (P, KLP, TNT)
Source: Self
Yield: 10-40

Matzo meal
for 10 balls: 3/4 cup
for 20 balls: 1-1/2 cups
for 30 balls: 2-1/4 cups
for 40 balls: 3 cups

Eggs
for 10 balls: 3 eggs
for 20 balls: 6 eggs
for 30 balls: 9 eggs
for 40 balls: 12 eggs

Oil
for 10 balls: 4 tbsp. oil
for 20 balls: 8 tbsp. oil
for 30 balls: 12 tbsp. oil
for 40 balls: 16 tbsp. oil

Salt
for 10 balls: 1 tsp. salt
for 20 balls: 2 tsp. salt
for 30 balls: 3 tsp. salt
for 40 balls: 4 tsp. salt

Pinch of sugar (estimate amount for more balls)
Pinch of KLP baking powder (estimate amount for more balls)

Mix together the oil and eggs. Add matzo meal, slowly. Add salt, sugar and baking powder.

Refrigerate for approximately 1/2 hour to thicken mixture.

Bring salted water to a rapid boil.

With wet hands, make balls the size of golf balls (to get ten, make smaller balls an you get more)). Drop them into the boiling water. They will sink to the bottom when immersed, but will rise. Cover. Lower heat to simmer or slow boil and cook for approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. The kneidlach are done when a knife goes through easily.

Poster's Notes: This recipe is easily doubles, tripled, etc. See amounts above. Approximate guesses on sugar and baking powder (can't go wrong).

I have made as much as 40 at once and they were just as light and wonderful as 10.

Posted by Pauline Miller
Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A

For these and other recipes, go to The Jewish Food Mailing List Archive.

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