Around the Passover Table (2 page)

And baking soda and baking powder? Surprisingly, that depends. Many Orthodox rabbis declare them kosher for Passover (when made with only kosher-for-Passover ingredients) because their leavening powers derive from chemicals, not from fermentation like yeast. The secret of impossibly fluffy Passover cakes and seder matzoh balls so airy they levitate above the soup is not some kabbalist cooking tip. It's just lots of kosher-for-Passover baking powder.

But if you think using leaveners—albeit, rabbinically sanctioned
chemical
ones—well, goes against the grain, so to speak, you're not alone. Many rabbis believe that with baking powder and baking soda, the holiday no longer tastes unique, and many Jewish cooks, myself included, do not use these ingredients during Passover. As Marcy Goldman, author of the excellent
A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking
, puts it: “My grandmothers would have had kittens! . . . my personal feeling is that I can appreciate whipped egg whites to aerate my Passover cakes, but somehow once baking soda and baking powder are introduced, the spirit of the holiday is compromised.”

KITNIYOT

While all Jews are prohibited from eating hametz during the holiday, there are other foods that are proscribed, not by commandment (
mitzvah
) but by custom (
minhag
), for various communities. The most important of these is the group of foods known as
kitniyot
(from the Hebrew,
katan
, meaning “little”), avoided by most traditional Ashkenazi Jews.

Although the Talmud specifically says that rice, millet, and other grains are kosher for Passover, during the Middle Ages, Ashkenazi rabbis worried that since flour ground from these and other grains, legumes, and seeds, or kitniyot, could resemble one of the five hametz grains from which matzoh may be prepared, people might mistakenly eat food prepared with hametz, thinking it had been made with -kitniyot. And since kitniyot looks like hametz, there may be grains of hametz mixed in with kitniyot (for example, bits of barley mixed in with grains of rice). To avoid such mix-ups, these rabbis banned consumption of all kitniyot during Passover.

And that's when the
real
confusion began.

For there exists no list that everyone agrees on: There is much disagreement today among and even within the various Ashkenazi denominations as to what should be classified as kitniyot. Some dispute including certain kitniyot derivatives among the prohibited foods: for example, peanut oil has been approved by some Orthodox rabbis because it, unlike peanuts, could never be ground and mistaken for flour. Most Conservative and many Orthodox authorities do not regard fresh string beans as kitniyot. Quinoa, a relative of spinach that looks and acts like a grain, is often not considered kitniyot, while buckwheat, related to sorrel and rhubarb and neither a grain nor a legume, is
always
considered kitniyot. And foods such as ground almonds or potato starch—both of which really do look like wheat flour and, in fact, are often substituted for it during the holiday—have never been considered kitniyot.

Some foods have been incorrectly labeled kitniyot in the past because of their names (vanilla and coffee beans) or ignorance about their true plant genus. Garlic was treated as kitniyot in several cookbooks I own dating from the 1950s, though later rabbinic authorities could find no justification for doing so. Fresh fennel is still on some kitniyot lists; while fennel seeds
might
resemble flour when ground (and, therefore, be considered kitniyot), fresh fennel could never be. Nor is it a legume: it is a member of the carrot family.

These ingredients may be considered kitniyot by some communities: alfalfa, bean, and other sprouts; anise seed; buckwheat; canola oil; caraway; chickpeas; coriander seeds; confectioners' sugar (if it contains cornstarch); corn (and derivatives such as cornstarch); cumin; flaxseed; fresh and dried beans, peas, and lentils; lecithin; millet; mustard; peanuts; poppy seeds; rice; sesame seeds; soy beans and other soy products, including soy sauce and tofu; and sunflower seeds. And the list is by no means exhaustive.

Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews usually do not avoid kitniyot, though some do not eat rice, or may go through special processes with kitniyot, such as sifting through the seeds of their Passover spices to ensure that they have not been contaminated by hametz.

Some of the recipes in this chapter call for ingredients that, while acceptable to most Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jews, may be classified as kitniyot by some Ashkenazi rabbinic authorities. (Often these ingredients are optional.) Readers must decide whether a particular food conforms to the Passover traditions observed not just by them, but equally important, by their guests as well.

HOW CAN I TELL IF SOMETHING IS KITNIYOT?
Since rules of kitniyot vary, depending on one's Jewish affiliation (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist) and level of observance, ask your rabbi or check printed or online kashrut guidelines prepared by an organization approved by your community.

If you are not affiliated, do not have family customs to guide you, but do not consider yourself part of the Sephardi or Mizrachi tradition, the criteria you follow will be an individual decision—but again, one that is mindful of the customs of those with whom you are celebrating Passover.

SO CAN SEPHARDI AND ASHKENAZI JEWS BREAK UNLEAVENED BREAD TOGETHER AT THE SAME SEDER?
Kitniyot do not have the same forbidden status as hametz, so even observant Ashkenazi Jews who refrain from eating kitniyot are permitted to eat at a seder at which kitniyot foods are served to others, as long as there is no kitniyot present in the food they themselves consume. Some observant Ashkenazim will eat from plates and utensils used for kitniyot and even eat food cooked in a pot that has been used for kitniyot; others will eat from plates used for kitniyot derivatives (corn or peanut oil) but not for actual kitniyot.

In Israel, where the Ashkenazi community is not the sizable majority it is among American Jewry, the Conservative (Masorti) Movement has recently ruled that all Jews living in Israel may abandon the minhag of refraining from kitniyot. In his
responsum
, Rabbi David Golinken explained that “in light of the ingathering of Jews of all ethnic groups,” observing kitniyot causes unnecessary schisms among Israel's people and inflates the importance of the insignificant (kitniyot) at the expense of the significant (hametz). Though the ruling pertains only to Conservative Jews living in Israel, it has led some American rabbis to call for a more liberal interpretation of kitniyot restrictions.

GEBROCHTS

(Yiddish for broken, referring to broken matzoh and farfel)

Some very observant Jews refrain from eating foods made with a combination of matzoh or matzoh meal and a liquid, concerned that if a little insufficiently cooked flour within the matzoh were moistened, leavening or fermentation might take place. So they avoid matzoh balls, matzoh brie, and other matzoh-based foods cooked with liquid until the eighth day of Passover.

RICH MATZOH

Made with eggs and apple juice, egg matzoh is not a “bread of affliction,” but instead a
matzoh ashira
(rich matzoh). Strictly observant Jews do not eat egg matzoh on Passover, though they do consider it permissible for small children, the elderly, and the infirm.

PACKAGED PRODUCTS

Strictly observant Jews will only buy packaged goods that are certified kosher-for-Passover.

PASSOVER INGREDIENTS

Stocking a Passover pantry no longer requires a visit to communities with a large Jewish population, or schlepping from store to store in search of hard-to-find ingredients. Internet and mail order sources can provide any Passover foods you need. But that will entail advanced planning.

So for those times when you need a substitute for a Passover product, and for Passover equivalents of hametz ingredients, here is a helpful list.

Matzoh Meal: process three matzohs, broken in pieces, in a food processor fitted with the steel blade until finely ground. Yield: 1 cup

Matzoh cake meal: process matzoh meal in a mini-processor or a clean coffee grinder until it is a fine powder.

1 cup all-purpose flour: about
²
⁄
₃
cup matzoh cake meal or
³
⁄
₄
cup potato starch.

Breadcrumb substitute: matzoh meal,
homemade matzoh crumbs
, ground nuts, or use a combination of ground nuts and matzoh meal.

Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon cornstarch equals about 1 tablespoon potato starch.

Confectioners' sugar: see
Passover Confectioners' Sugar
.

Vanilla extract is almost always prepared with grain alcohol, which is unkosher for Passover. Passover vanilla extract is available; unfortunately, it is often made from artificial vanilla. You can prepare your own kosher-for-Passover vanilla extract, but you'll need to start well before the holiday. To make homemade vanilla extract: split 3 plump, supple vanilla beans in half lengthwise, exposing all of the scented seeds within. Scrape the seeds gently with the tip of your knife to get their fragrance going. Put the beans into a small, clear glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and pour in 1 cup kosher-for-Passover vodka. Push the beans down into the vodka so they are completely covered with the liquid. Close the jar tightly and let it sit in a cool, dark place to infuse. The vodka will turn dark as the vanilla steeps in it, and after about two months, it will be full of vanilla flavor. Strain into a clean jar, or if you prefer, leave the extract in the original jar and simply strain out the amount you need. To remove the vanilla flecks, pour through a strainer lined with a coffee filter or paper towel.

Or substitute homemade vanilla sugar for the regular sugar called for in a recipe. To prepare it, either bury a split vanilla bean or two in a sugar canister and set aside for several weeks until fragrant or grind a split vanilla bean cut into pieces with 1 cup sugar in a blender until pulverized, then sift through a fine-mesh strainer.

You can also steep a vanilla bean in balsamic vinegar and use the vinegar for sprinkling on lightly sweetened strawberries or mango.

For an unusual, but intriguing alternative to vanilla flavoring in Passover cakes, try a small amount of dried lavender (about 2 teaspoons) or chopped fresh rosemary leaves (about 1 tablespoon), ground with 1 cup sugar.

Or substitute 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher-for-Passover liqueur for 1 teaspoon kosher-for-Passover vanilla.

Kosher-for-Passover almond extract: substitute 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher-for-Passover nut-flavored liqueur for 1 teaspoon extract. If the recipe calls for liquid, you can infuse it with prune pits for a wonderful, complex almondy taste.

PREPARING FOR PASSOVER

Long before the holiday, traditional Jews begin an extensive spring cleaning of every room where food may have been eaten or crumbs forgotten during the year, ridding their homes of hametz, from the stray Cheerio buried under the toddler's toys to a chocolate-covered wafer hidden in a coat pocket.

Some year-round table- and kitchenware may be made kosher-for-Passover by scalding them in boiling water or heating them until they are red-hot. But anything that cannot be made kosher is stored away, and the special dishes, cutlery, and utensils reserved for Passover use alone are unpacked and arranged in the newly clean cabinets. We would set Great-Aunt Anna's huge white-and-gold porcelain service on the buffet, and my mother cringed every time my dad slapped a serving of sizzling matzoh brie on the eggshell-thin plates. Now it is my turn to cringe: the beautiful heirloom plates grace my cabinets.

Pasta, bread crumbs, and cereal all figure prominently in the pre-Passover meals, as the family tries to finish up their hametz before the holiday. Unopened containers of prohibited foods can be given away to shelters, churches, and social service agencies for distribution to the needy, or offered to non-Jewish friends. Or they may be sealed and stored for the duration of the holiday.

The evening before the first seder, the family goes from room to room in the final search for leavening (
bedikat hametz
). Thus, begins The Great Hametz Treasure Hunt: parents hide one or more pieces of bread, then children shine their flashlights into every nook and cranny to find the hametz. For added excitement, the parents might offer a small prize to the child who finds the most hametz. (Just be sure you remember where and how many pieces you have hidden, or you might be unpleasantly surprised during—or worse still, a month after—the holiday.)

The hametz found during the search is set aside until the morning. Then it is combined with any hametz leftover from breakfast and destroyed: usually it is burnt, but it may also be flushed down the toilet or scattered to the winds.

The house is now ready for Passover.

TIPS FOR PLANNING A SEDER MENU

THINK GREEN.
Originally an agricultural holiday, Passover celebrates spring, the reawakening of the earth mirrored in the rebirth of the Jews as a free people. Even if your ancestors spent the holiday in frosty northern climes, your seder should not be a monochrome in varying shades of brown. Emphasize the flavors of the season: fresh vegetables and fruits, like asparagus, artichokes, spinach, leeks, rhubarb, and so on. Lighten heavier foods, like matzoh balls, kugels, and meat gravies with fresh herbs, local ingredients, such as ramps and wild garlic shoots, even a squirt of lemon or grated citrus zest. Include a huge salad of tender greens or a few cooked vegetable salads as a welcome antidote to a matzoh-rich meal.

FEAST OF SYMBOLS.
To enrich the seder experience, weave the symbolic foods throughout the meal: matzoh in many guises, tastes of karpas greens everywhere—perhaps a salad of bitter herbs.

HORS D'OEUVRE.
Guests—and cooks too—are often famished when they sit down at the table; growling bellies can make it difficult for them to enjoy the seder service. If possible, offer a nibble (and perhaps something heartier for children) before the seder begins. My sister-in-law Ellen sets out chopped liver for arriving guests. Other simple options include vegetable dips, like avocado or eggplant puree, canapes of smoked fish or tuna salad on cucumber or radish rounds, or miniature bellahat speared with toothpicks. Or serve a special, generous portion of the ceremonial foods when they are introduced during the service. For example, pass around crudités (batons of carrots, peppers, celery, florets of cauliflower) after you eat the karpas from the seder plate. Offer a few kinds of haroset or serve the more substantial
Tangy Haroset Bites
at the appropriate time in the service.