This week, I surveyed students and faculty, including Chabad’s Rabbi Hershey and Chana Novack, to hear about their different traditions for celebrating Passover, which starts this Friday at sundown. Read on to discover some of the best and strangest Passover foods enjoyed by our WashU community.
The respondents:
- 8% freshman, 8% sophomores, 50% juniors, 25% seniors and 8% faculty/parent
- 40% identified as male and 60% as female
- About 17% of those who took the survey were non-Jewish, while the rest were Jewish (25% conservative, 33% reform and 25% culturally but not religiously Jewish)
The results:
Unsurprisingly, matzah bark/brittle (chocolate- and caramel-covered matzah) and chicken soup tie for most popular Passover foods among Wash U students and faculty, with wine and charoset (chopped apple and nut mixture) coming in at a close second. Next comes plain matzah (unleavened bread) and maror (bitter herb). Least popular at the seder are beitzah (roasted egg), zeroah (roasted lamb shankbone) and karpas (vegetable dipped in salt water).
Two questions:
1. What is the strangest food you have ever experienced at Passover?
Answers included gefilte fish (a poached mixture of ground carp, whitefish or pike) and korech (a sandwich of Matzah, charoset and maror).
2. What is the best food you have ever had at Passover?
While keeping kosher for Passover eliminates many family dinner favorites from the table, it seems like Wash U students have found creative and delicious ways to get around the leavened bread restriction. Responses for this question included unleavened chocolate cake (this flourless one would work, too), homemade spinach matzah balls and meatballs with grape jelly (…we’re a bit unclear on this one). One respondent mentioned a totally chocolate seder…definitely something we could be into.
The interviews:
Read on to hear about some of the strangest and tastiest Passover food experiences within the WashU community.
Rabbi Hershey and Chana Novack
Photo by Julie Rub
Religion: Jewish – Orthodox
When Rabbi Hershey was a child, his family would only eat unprocessed, simple foods during Passover. Only 5 or 6 types of food/drink were allowed in the kitchen: usually fruits, vegetables, eggs, wine and matzah. Chana, Rabbi Hershey’s wife, revealed that she used to eat matzah with guacamole. She loves that, “it’s almost like a melding of two worlds” and serves as the ideal way to add some flavor to the otherwise bland matzah.
Matt Katz
Photo by Courtney Oei
Year: Senior
Religion: Jewish – Reform
“I’d have to say mom’s matzah ball soup is my favorite Passover food. It’s totally homemade, so it has a distinct taste that reminds me of home.”
Joselyn Walsh
Photo by Julie Rub
Year: Sophomore
Non-religious
“Growing up, there were no Jews in my town. One time, I was over at my friend’s house and tried Matzah. That friend isn’t Jewish, but they always kept a box of Matzah around all year long and ate it with peanut butter, so I ended up just eating it without realizing it had anything to do with Judaism or Passover.”
Rebecca Cooper
Photo by Barbara Cooper
Religion: Jewish – Reform
“One of my favorite foods of Passover is the Charoset. That may seem like a simple answer, but not when you have 5 different types of charoset at one seder. My aunt always experiments with different ratios of apples, walnuts, wine and spices, and makes different types of charoset from different parts of the world. My favorite kind is made with date syrup and ground nuts – put that on Matzah and you get a crunchy, sweet and delicious treat to enjoy midway through the seder!”
Elyse Lopez
Photo by Julie Rub
Year: Junior
Religion: Jewish – Reform
“My sister Melanie and I used to put goat cheese and honey on matzah. I also used to eat nutella on matzah as an afternoon snack in high school.”
Super Secret Charoset Recipe
Charoset is one of the most popular Passover foods. Unlike the chunky charoset you might be used to, this recipe is creamier, sweeter and smoother, which makes it easier to use as a spread.
Prep Time: 2-5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 3-6 minutes
Servings:10
Ingredients:
3/4 cup almonds
3/4 cup walnuts
2 1/2 cups raisins
1 apple
Wine or grape juice to taste and preferred consistency
Photo by Julie Rub
Directions:
1. Place raisins in food processor with a splash of wine or grape juice, and blend until smooth.
2. Add in nuts and blend.
3. Peel, core and chop apple. Add to food processor and blend until the consistency is smooth and paste-like. Add wine or grape juice as needed.
Photo by Julie Rub
Chana Novack and some Sinai scholars at Chabad tested out this recipe and gave it a thumbs up.
Photo by Julie Rub
Already dreading 8 days of unleavened foods? Make Passover more taste-bud-friendly: