Boy, am I exhausted! I’ve been cooking and cleaning for days to prepare for a very special celebration. Monday night marked the first night of Passover. As everyone is gearing up for the Easter long weekend, I thought it would be great to share the celebration of Passover.
What exactly is Passover, you may be wondering. Passover is a time to reflect on the past, and of course, to EAT! A Jewish holiday is never complete without enjoying delicious food. A friend of mine explained that there are 3 different kinds of Jews:
1) Geriatric Jews – Jewish to honour their grandparents
2) Pediatric Jews – Jewish to instill tradition in their children
3) Gastronomic Jews – Jewish for the love of the food
During the first two nights of Passover families get together to retell the story of the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt after being enslaved for over 400 years, we read from a special book (Haggadah) and eat many symbolic foods.
You may be surprised to learn why this holiday is called Passover. The story goes like this: the Egyptian Pharaoh would not release the Hebrews from slavery so God inflicted 10 plagues on them. The first nine did not sway the Pharaoh, but the 10th and final plague did – the slaying of the first-born male. The Hebrews marked the doors of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb; God then “passed over” these homes and only killed the Egyptian males (hence the term Passover). This culminated in the release of the Hebrews.
If you are wondering whether I believe this story, I have to admit that
I’m some what skeptical. However, I do believe in the importance of
retelling the story. I have many privileges today because of the
sacrifices of those make before me. I am reminded of the suffering of
the Jewish people during the Holocaust as I dip my vegetable in to the salt water at the Passover seder – the salt water symbolises the sad
tears of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. I observe the dietary restrictions
to honour those who came before me.
On the plate photographed in the image below you will find foods of
significance that tie us to our past. We recall the bitterness
experienced by the Hebrew slaves by eating raw grated horseradish. I’m
not sure if you have ever tried raw horseradish before, but you really
shouldn’t! The shooting pain that you experience that flares through
your nostrils as you consume this extremely bitter root can be
torturous. Exhibit A – a photo of my poor brother as he bites into the
horseradish (eaten between two pieces of matzah). In the next photo you
will find haroset (a mixture of apple, walnut and wine, delicious!). We eat this
to remind us of the mortar that the slaves used to build the cities of
Pharaoh.
No sedar is complete without the youngest child asking these questions. These questions encourage the family to discuss the significance of the symbols in the meal. the questions are
Why is this night different from all other nights?
On all other nights, we eat either unleavened or leavened bread, but tonight we eat only unleavened bread?
On all other nights, we eat all kinds of vegetable, but tonight, we eat only bitter herbs?
On all other nights we do not dip [our food] even once but tonight we dip twice?
On all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but tonight we only recline?
The adults take turns answering the questions. Click here if you would like to read some of the answers.
After the reading is complete we dig into a magnificent feast, filled with many traditional Jewish foods including; gefilte fish, chopped live, matzah ball soup (served with egg noodles -pasta noodles are not permitted), brisket, kugels (potato and vegetable) and turkey. My father comes from Morocco so we also include many delicious salads. 
Last but not least is dessert. Now you may wonder how we are able to prepare dessert without using flour. Matzah, which is made from flour and water and is permitted on Passover, is ground down into two textures, course (matza meal) and fine (cake meal). We use cake meal to make many great desserts. Of course we cannot use baking powder or soda, so we use many eggs to keep our cakes light and fluffy. How many eggs do you think these cakes need? The answer is LOTS and LOTS; my sponge cake recipe takes 9 eggs. You can only imagine the looks that I get at the grocery store as I place 10 dozen eggs into by grocery cart.
Dread: Clearing my house from top to bottom to get rid of any traces of banned food items. I also really miss eating bread, cereal and pasta
Love: Having a clean house. I’m sure that the origins of spring-cleaning can be traced back to Jewish people cleaning their homes in preparation for Passover. I also love passing on traditions and customs to my children. I feel so lucky and proud to be able to finally host my very own seder after years of attending those made by my grandmother and parents. It gives me so much pleasure to see my parents enjoy the seder that I have prepared, it makes all the hard work, worth the effort!
Chag Sameach to all those who celebrate Passover. To my friends and family who celebrate Easter may you have a wonderful weekend filled with love and joy!
I can only imagine how decadent and moist those cakes are!
You may think that you don’t like matza (matzah, matzo, it’s spelled so many ways), but have you tried Passover granola from recipezaar.com-recipe #51187, it’s amazing! You don’t need to like coconut, raisins or dates, trust me, this recipe is great!
Wow, Carol. This sounds AWESOME in the true sense of the word. Traditions are so important in families and teaching your children about their history is an amazing experience for parent and child. Oh and those cakes!!
What a great post…and what great photos.
Althought Im not crazy about eating matza for 8 days…I have been enjoying the gefilte fish. LOL
Great overview of your Passover celebrations! I think what’s interesting is that no matter the religion, the common thread is the importance of family and traditions in our holidays.
My mouth is watering looking at all those desserts (though I could live without the gefilte fish!)