The Zeitgeist

        

Scrambled Matza Brei, Shmura Matza whole (hopefully and preferably). The Streit’s factory on Rivington Street and four small cups for the four cups.

Tips for a Happy Passover

Passover begins Monday evening and with that the eight day gastrointestinal endurance contest with matza and matza-related products. Matza is called “the bread of affliction,” I think no so much as a metaphor for the oppression endured by the ancient Israelites (what’s an ‘Israelite’ anyway? A slimmer Jew before the invention of Eastern European Jewish cooking?) than for the calcifying and immobilizing effect that matza has on so many of us.

There are some foods I only eat this time of year. To combat the aforementioned matza, I consume copious amounts of dried fruit such as apricots and prunes. There are my two favorite Passover breakfasts – Matza Brei (scrambled, loose – don’t talk to me about pancakes…) and one that must surely have originated in the shtetl – boiled potato and hard boiled egg in water, mashed together. At no other time of the year would I remotely consider such a concoction, yet, at Passover I relish and look forward to it. Oh, and Macaroons. Honey nut, preferably.

In the matza area, I’ve become a convert to Streit’s Whole Wheat. It’s got lots of snap, wheat taste and most importantly, fiber and bran. Streit’s also has spelt matza which has a smooth taste, I’m a Streit’s purist owing to the effect New York City water has on the taste of their matza, much as city water has beneficial effects on bagels and pizza dough. For the Seder, Israeli shmurah hand-made round matza. Why? Less expensive than Brooklyn-baked shmurah and most importantly – the Israelis manage to shrink-wrap these round matzot and ship them 6,000 miles without breaking most of them, whereas the Brooklyn variety are tossed into flimsy boxes and then jostled in trucks by Samsonite Luggage commercial gorillas and then arrive at your Seder with two pieces intact out of a four pound box. Oh, and the Israeli variety costs less generally despite the long journey and you get to help Israel.

Some Seder suggestions – The Four Cups: Most folks break out their fine crystal goblets fit for Henry VIII at Windsor Castle. They look great on the table but when filled with wine, most Seder participants find themselves staring at eight or more daunting ounces, so many people just take a few sips instead of fulfilling the obligation to drink a full cup. Others actually chug the whole thing and end up seriously buzzed way before the second cup comes around. The religious requirement is actually in the area of three to 3.5 ounces. To make the Seder ritual of The Four Cups more meaningful and achievable our family procured a nice set of hand painted ceramic four ounce wine cups that we use for the Seder. This way, people aren’t intimidated or prematurely inebriated and most everyone actually drinks four cups.

Drinking at the Seder is essential to both make the occasion joyous and to make spending many hours with your extended family more palatable. Because the story of Passover goes from slavery to freedom I generally start the first cup with a very dry wine, (also low residual sugar helps retard early intoxication) a semi-dry for the second cup, semi-sweet for the third cup and sweet wine for the fourth and final cup when we delight in our liberation from slavery. Get good wines, treat yourself and your guests. Everything is better with better wines. Would you buy an anorexic brisket? In The Five Towns go down and see Moshe Fink or Fay at Chateau de Vin (www.OnlyKosherWine.com ) on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst. All they do is kosher wine. Moshe has an encyclopedic knowledge of every grape ever pressed into sacramental service and he’ll let you taste just about anything before you buy it.

Some other Seder tips – Because of Daylight Savings Time, most Seders will start pretty late (after sundown). Crankiness can be mitigated mightily by urging one’s guests to have a snack or light meal at 5:30 or 6:00 so they don’t arrive famished and so the Seder meal is not mimicking a post-Ramadan break fast or frat house food fight. Also, inject humor. I love tossing jokes in between segments of the Haggadah. The holiday ought not be dour or dull. Google “Passover Jokes” and print some out. A good place to go is www.Bangitout.com, they’re got a lot of funny stuff. If most of your guests don’t understand Hebrew, do the Seder mostly in English. More important that the evening have meaning than be viewed as mumbo-jumbo or voodoo incantations. Very best wishes for a Sweet and Happy Passover!

•••••