Seder Night

 

Friday, April 6, 2012 – Seder Night

We had a very small and low-key seder this year for the first night of Passover.  I love the food traditions of the Passover seder but I also enjoy tweaking them a little.  I grew up with the traditional Eastern European haroset (apples, walnuts, raisins, sweet wine).  Then I discovered some Sephardic recipes, which were based on dried fruit.  Everyone liked the haroset I made with dried apricots, dried peaches, golden raisins, dates and chopped nuts.  In fact, I used to make enough so we could spread it on matzah throughout the week of Passover.   But it was sweet enough to be a dessert, and I’m sure the calorie count was astronomical.  Since I’m now on a no-sugar campaign, I thought I’d experiment this year with a savory version of haroset.  After all, it’s not the sweetness that matters; it’s the texture, which is supposed to resemble mortar, a reminder of the labor of the Hebrew slaves.  I started by mixing chunks of eggplant, yellow peppers, orange peppers, and red onions with chopped garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  Then I roasted the vegetable mixture for about half an hour.  After the veggies cooled off, I chopped them a little more finely in a food processor to achieve a mortar-like consistency. 

I thought this new haroset tasted especially delicious on the whole wheat matzah.  Elliott liked the haroset, but he would have preferred it on non-whole wheat matzah.  By the way, when I bought matzah this year, I made sure to buy Streit’s brand matzah because it’s still made in the original Streit’s factory on the Lower East Side in New York City, not far from Elisa’s and Christian’s apartment.  And here’s a really strange coincidence – Elisa is now living only a few blocks away from my grandfather’s (and her great-grandfather’s) 1892 birthplace on Avenue D and 2^nd Street.  It just took a few generations to get back to the old neighborhood.  

For the rest of the seder meal, I tried a few other new ideas for vegetables, all very simple:  (1) slim carrot sticks roasted with olive oil and smoked paprika; (2) green beans with sautéed shallots and mushrooms in a miso-mustard sauce; and (3) a salad of thinly sliced fennel, celery, Granny Smith apple, and golden raisins in a white balsamic vinaigrette.  The last idea came from the salad bar at Wegman’s. 

Dishes are done, and I’m ready for services tomorrow morning, when I’ll be chanting the Torah portion and the Haftarah.