When it comes to food, Jewish people don’t mess around. If you’re asking yourself about matzah and what exactly is this food, don’t be alarmed when your Jewish friends start using words like “Seder” and “unleavened bread” to give you a detailed history of Passover. On the surface, matzah looks like a large, thin cracker. It’s easy to break and not too crunchy. So, what is matzah? Lucky for you, I’ve got some answers.
What Is Matzah?
Matzah is an unleavened (aka without yeast) flatbread made from flour and water. To be kosher for Passover, matzah must be made from one of five grains: wheat, spelt, barley, rye, or oat. The holiday of Passover commemorates the Israelites’ freedom from slavery in Egypt. Forced to flee quickly, the Israelites could not wait for their bread dough to rise, leaving them with matzah.
How Matzah Is Made
The ingredients that go into matzah are pretty simple. All you need is all-purpose flour, kosher salt, canola oil, and warm water. You mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to form a dough and immediately divide it into pieces (if you let the dough sit, it will not be kosher for Passover).
Pretty easy, right? Finally, you’ll flatten the dough with a rolling pin and place the pieces in the oven on a baking sheet. You’ll need to bake the dough on both sides, but each side should only be face-down for about 30 to 90 seconds. It’s super easy to burn the dough because it’s so thin, but don’t give up! Your friends will be very impressed when they don’t see you at Costco buying matzah in bulk.
#SpoonTip: Take your homemade matzah to the next level by sprinkling some kosher salt or cinnamon on the top.
If you’re planning to cook a traditional Jewish dish, you’ll need to commit to some serious flavor. Matzah can be sweet, salty, savory and everything in between. The Internet is overflowing with matzah recipes, so go crazy.
What is matzah? Well, here you go. Matzah, a Jewish cracker, is a staple during Passover. Impress your Jewish friends by making a creative version of this unleavened bread.