Passover

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I like seders. I don't like the rest of it. I'm staying with my parents for the whole thing this year and they do it properly, so I won't eat much good for a while. So - what's passover like round your way?

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:13 (twenty years ago)

Mandatory horseradish. Gotta love that.

― driede mousedropping (Dave225), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:23 (twenty years ago)

I have real trouble with an entire boiled egg in salt water.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:27 (twenty years ago)

Matzah blows. Sorry.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago)

Charoset is nasty - other than that, I love Seder food.

― driede mousedropping (Dave225), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:33 (twenty years ago)

im going to go to a seder that isnt my parents' for the first time ever. this itself is cause for celebration. the other cause for celebration is that my host reportedly went to the butcher to get a pound of brisket per person.

it should get pretty rowdy with all the wine, thank god. my mom sent me - because she was worried about me going without - a fake snakeskin yarmulka that is sort of metallic bronze and silver. I could go clubbing with it, it's so hip and shiny.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:36 (twenty years ago)

The wine definitely helps, especially in the second half.

Matzah is awful but charoset is the dog's bollocks, sorry.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

there are different types. my mom's side is from iraq, they make it with crushed walnuts and date molasses, very diff from the kosher wine soaked apple thing thats more common in the west.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:56 (twenty years ago)

OK fair enough the ashkenazy version is the one I'm talking about. That Iraqi version sounds a bit sickly.

I really dislike the expression 'dog's bollocks' and I can't work out why I used it.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:59 (twenty years ago)

Because dog's bollocks would not be kosher.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:00 (twenty years ago)

There's a real art to getting the balance right when it comes to charoset. It's such a genius combination, but it is possible to get it wrong if it's too wet and runny and there's not enough cinnamon (cf my dad's limp efforts). The Iraqi versh sounds good...

― Japanese Giraffe (Japanese Giraffe), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:04 (twenty years ago)

and yeah, i have to agree with you beanz, the seder is fun, but it kind of wears out it's welcome past the first day. I guess the morning after is good too, you can make fried matzo, which is good about once a year, or pancakes, which are good about once a year. but that's it.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

For the first time in years my parents have decided only to invite people we like to the seder. Usually there's at least 2 relatives we never otherwise see who are toxic in some way.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:09 (twenty years ago)

This year will be my first where my girlfriend's FAMILY will be joining us -- a completely secular Israeli family no less.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:11 (twenty years ago)

Seder is great. not only do i get to see all my aunts, uncles, cousins, whatnot, but as well quite a few of my mom's cousins and their kids. Horseradish contest!

on the downside, i'll be missing the Dizzee Rascal concert as the family is located in Detroit.

― lemin (lemin), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:16 (twenty years ago)

My poor younger brother is also turning 21 on the second seder night. 4 cups of wine with the folks is not exactly an exciting first legal drinking experience.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:18 (twenty years ago)

I love charoset and beg Jewish friends to bring me their leftovers!

Last year I was informed that seder involved ONE plate with all of the stuff on it, whereas all my life I had pictured individual seder plates for each person. Perhaps that was just in my informant's family? SKOOL ME IN SEDER!

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:18 (twenty years ago)

Ha! That stuff is just symbolic -- if everyone had to actually eat a whole serving of everything on the seder plate they'd PUKE.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

So quincie, you've never been to one then?

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:20 (twenty years ago)

No, I've been to a Rosh Hoshanna (sp?) dinner but never a seder. And yeah, I honestly thought that each person ate a whole plate of the stuff.

I would like to go to a seder. I've always felt I was born into the wrong religion (ultra-WASPY episcopalian) and that my true self is a Jew. Kind of like some people are born biologically male but know deep down they are actually a chick.

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Ya'll can mail me your leftover kugel, too kthx

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)

Eww. Passover kugel is gross. You need to get the real shit made with actual noodles.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

Quincie, one plate with bits of everything on it is the symbolic seder plate and everyone has a plate of their own for eating off. That's just the ceremonial stuff though - after that comes a proper meal. Then after that comes a long boring bit then some more singing at the end.

I miss all the dead relatives. Not many live ones left too.

xposts

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

Wait so what the fuck is in Passover kugel???

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:30 (twenty years ago)

Something from a packet.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)

Quincie, Passover food cannot be "leavened" so it's all made out of ground up matzah or something. It's like cement.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:35 (twenty years ago)

One thing I'll say about both WASPs and Jews -- Ashkenazic (european) Jews anyway: they both have lousy food.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:37 (twenty years ago)

Passover can lick my balls and like it. Except for the seders, because I'm in the mood for some juicy brisket.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:37 (twenty years ago)

Matzah also confuses me. The paper's food section said that matzah "is made from matzah meal." Thanks a lot, what the hell is matzah meal?

So I asked my friendly neighborhood Jew and SHE DID NOT KNOW WHERE MATZAH MEAL CAME FROM! I mean, does it come from a matzah plant? What the hell??????

xpost oooooooh, I LOVE me some brisket!

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:38 (twenty years ago)

I thought matzah meal is ground up matza, not the other way around... I'm probably wrong though. Matzah's made like bread only it's not given enough time to rise in the oven. Can't be cooked for more than 18 minutes or something.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:45 (twenty years ago)

That's right. Quincie, your paper's food section was wrong.

Matzah is awful. I refuse to eat it. Unless it's fried matzah, because fried matzah is awesome.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

Matzah's ok until day 2 when the stomach cramps take hold.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:49 (twenty years ago)

So does matzah come from wheat or oats or rice or some other grain? I must get to the bottom of this.

I like to eat matzah (is that what you call the cracker stuff or do you call that something like "matzah cracker?") with butter and a little salt.

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:53 (twenty years ago)

See also: kosher Coke, which sells like hot cakes with the WASPs because it tastes better than the usual corn syrup stuff. Great for mixing highballs.

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:55 (twenty years ago)

Comes from wheat -> plain flour. The only kosher for passover use for flour is matzah. Other grains and pulses and things aren't kosher for passover. Rice isn't for ashkenazy jews and is for sephardis.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:58 (twenty years ago)

One year I decided to be Sephardic for Passover. Because when you think about it, their rules make a hell of a lot more sense.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:02 (twenty years ago)

Does any of it make sense?

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

Thanks for the explanation, beanz. So it is safe to describe matzah as a special form of (wheat) flour?

This is actully the second thread today in which I've seen reference to "pulses." Is this a UK thing, 'cause I have no idea what that is, either!

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)

my main experience with seders was in college. a bunch of nonobservant ultraliberal jews/half-jews/interested housemates would gather for an afternoon to eat overly lumpy charoset and get sick off manechewitz. someone would have borrowed hagaddahs from the religious center, but there would never be enough to go around and the only song that anyone even vaguely knew the tune for would be 'dayenu' (sp).

― lauren (laurenp), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

overly lumpy charoset

How does one fuck up charoset? It's the easiest thing to make, that's why we used to assign it to my grandfather.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:23 (twenty years ago)

i don't like big walnut pieces in the charoset.

― lauren (laurenp), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:28 (twenty years ago)

Quincie, pulses are beans, peas and lentils etc. Matzah is the actual cracker:

http://www.paleotimes.org/images/matzo.jpg

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

has anyone here had that creamy horseradish stuff? i know, i know, sounds gross, but MAN is it ever good.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:58 (twenty years ago)

possibly not kosher for passover, but it seemed apposite.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

It's a standard roast beef condiment in britain.

― Ed (dali), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:01 (twenty years ago)

Oh god that picture is making me hungry--time for lunch!

How exactly is this horseradish used in the Passover sense (creamy horseradish spread on matah=idea I must pursue)?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)

Whatever it is they put in Pret a Manger roast salmon and horseradish sandwiches is damn fine. It's creamy and horseradishy. Does that sound right? (Ugh, I'm so fucking bourgeois.) Horseradish for the seder is a big lump of raw horseradish. Making my mouth water just thinking about it.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/images/horseradish.jpg

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

Doesn't that look appetising. Mmm mm mmmm.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

But is actual edible horseradish incorporated into any traditional Passover dishes? Can you (do you?) put it on your brisket?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't, but many people do, yes. They also dollop it onto their GEFILTE FISH.

Let us now recall the GEFILTE wars from the Rosh Hashanah thread.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

re: passover kugel

why the fuck would you try to make it out of matzo meal??!??! that would be about as dense as a neutron star.

the only passover kugel is POTATO kugel which is made basically the same way as regular potato kugel, of which im making about 10 lbs of come saturday.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:21 (twenty years ago)

With any luck my mum will have made a similar quantity of charoset.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

Need recipe for potato kugel immediately. Thanks.

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Oh and is there such a thing as kosher booze other than wine? Kosher scotch or something?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:27 (twenty years ago)

Anything made from kosher ingredients can be certified kosher including alcohol. Whisk(e)y isn't kosher for passover though, nor beer.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

well, it goes something like this... I'm trying to recall from memory, but the recipe is not terribly exact anyway, its pretty forgiving.

10 potatoes, peeled if you wish, grated or food processed, then drained of moisture with a strainer
1-2 onions, (or to taste) grated/food processed
3-4 eggs, probably the more eggs, the richer it is
1/2 cup matzo meal(/flour if not pascal)
1/4 cup oil
a good amount of salt
black pepper to taste

mix all this together in a giant bowl, put it in a greased pan so that the stuff is about 2 inches high, bake at 350ºF for 1.5-2 hours till nice golden brown on top. I hate when cooked potatoes have any hardness left to them, so I'm going for closer to 2 hours.

pretty easy except for the mass grating of potatoes.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

sposedly vodka is made from potato, so thats ok.

i forget what gin is made from. Sake should be ok if your sephardic.

mmm...sake...

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:38 (twenty years ago)

So potato kugel=kinda like latkes (sp?), only baked?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

mmm kosher saki.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

You are all making me hungry. (I am, however, having Peruvian food tonight.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

hey, "peru" rhymes with "jew"--almost the same.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

Just make sure it's really potato vodka and not cheaper wheat vodka.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:53 (twenty years ago)

yes yes! you could take the same goop, put it on a frying pan and have latkes. the same exact mixture.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:57 (twenty years ago)

My great-grandparents distilled potato vodka in their backyard in some grim corner of pre-pogrom Belarus.

― Japanese Giraffe (Japanese Giraffe), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:13 (twenty years ago)

In some grim corner of pre-pogrom Lithuania my great-grandparents owned a cow, which made them the envy of the shtetl I'm told.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:23 (twenty years ago)

Me too. I'm devoid of any spirituality and was born as such but if there's any religion I should've been born into it should've been Judaism as it's the only one I feel some affinity for.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:27 (twenty years ago)

N.B.: very few (if any?) Jewish ILXors are religious

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)

O.K., so, honest question here--is one still popularly identified as Jewish even if one is completely secular (or for that matter an active member of some non-Jewish faith) or does the very term imply some sort of committment (however tenuous) to the Jewish faith?

Like, grown up me is an atheist so I don't think of myself as episcopalian, even though I was raised in that faith and that is the faith of my parents, etc. . . the same sort of thing does or does not apply to Judaism? Anyone?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

I guess I'm just trying to figure out the "not religious" thing one makes one a non-religious Jew or not a Jew at all.

Am I making any sense?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

Uh, I appear to have missed some words on that last post. So to recap: is a non-religious person of Jewish heritage a "not-religious Jew" or not a Jew at all?

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)

answers on this thread:

What makes a good babka? and other questions about traditional Jewish desserts

is one still popularly identified as Jewish even if one is completely secular

short answer: yes, and in fact this was the reason behind my response to Ian's comment

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

Oh man, now I really want some babka. Never had it.

― quincie, Friday, 22 April 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

N.B.: very few (if any?) Jewish ILXors are religious
I do know the distinction between descent and religion.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

shit! forgot a key ingredient in the kugel! you need to a tiny bit - 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to make the stuff be fluffy. not too much, but a wee bit.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 22 April 2005 22:08 (twenty years ago)

Does any of it make sense?

-- beanz (beanzil...), April 22nd, 2005.

No. And orthodox Judaism makes even less sense. Case in point, *they* accosted my girlfriend and gave her a box of "Shmurah Matzah", on which was printed this explanation:

"For the Seder one should try to have Shmuroh Matzo's [sic]. If it is difficult to obtain all three Shmuroh Matzo's, an effort should be made that at least the first 'kazayis' eaten should be Shmuroh. To fulfill the mitzvah of eating ('kazayis') Matzoh, one should try to eat an entire piece of Matzoh equivalent in size to 4x5 inches in no more than 4 minutes. If more than 6 minutes pass from the beginning till the finish, the mitzvah of eating 'kazayis' Matzoh has not been fulfilled..."

???

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 23 April 2005 04:03 (twenty years ago)

i used to be kind of religious. i went to a shabbas dinner last night and remember all the prayers and songs and stuff, to my surprise.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Saturday, 23 April 2005 15:09 (twenty years ago)

I brought some Kosher beer ("He'Brew")to a religious friend's parents' seder last year, forgetting -- of course -- the old no-yeast-at-Pesach no problem. My friend's mother literally screamed and ran out of the house with the six-pack when I turned up. Not a good start. We got invited back this year, though.

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Saturday, 23 April 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

Matza blows, but matza brei rules the world with delicate, tasty fists.

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Saturday, 23 April 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

Seda' Club

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Saturday, 23 April 2005 22:28 (twenty years ago)

Fucking Seder with the wife you're about to leave/be left by (god knows) with her parents (who know) and everyone else (who don't know, hence your presence) just gets more fun when it's your turn to read the bit from the Haggadah in your age-3-level Hebrew & half the crowd are cooing at the grown man's cute inabilities & the other half wonder why you didn't fuck off on a plane already & why you even came.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Sunday, 24 April 2005 00:17 (twenty years ago)

Sorry, that sounds awful. But if they're so petty that they can't act like normal human beings for one night and have to resort to amusing themselves at your Hebrew-reading abilities, then to hell with them.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 24 April 2005 01:45 (twenty years ago)

That's not the point.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Sunday, 24 April 2005 01:47 (twenty years ago)

This is my first vegetarian passover, so the food isn't quite on point this year. I also didn't think I could get drunk during a seder, but hey, I did it, and now I have a headache and am trying o listen to Musik by Plastikman for the first time while fending off this headache/tiredness. Another seder tommorow, this is a bigger one though. I don't think hangovers and shul mix though.

― Tokyo Ghost Stories (Tokyo Ghost Stories), Sunday, 24 April 2005 03:30 (twenty years ago)

Just had an amazing (vegetarian) Passover with my wife & parents & six friends, one of whom flew in from San Francisco specifically for it and another of whom is visiting from NYC this week. I wrote/edited the haggadah a couple of years ago and revised it last week. Everybody cooked stuff. Really one of the best times I've had in ages.

― Douglas (Douglas), Sunday, 24 April 2005 06:03 (twenty years ago)

You wrote your own Haggadah? Wow!

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 24 April 2005 13:21 (twenty years ago)

We did our annual hybrid: secular reform Jew/lapsed Catholic pseudo-Seder w/edited & abridged Haggadah, lamb instead of brisket, latkes and haroset and most of trimmings. I've really come to enjoy this, it's better by far than Holy Week & Easter dinner at my grandparents.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 24 April 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

Damn, now I'm hungry (given both M. and Douglas's posts.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 24 April 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

the short form:

potato kugel = awesome
noodle kugel = gross
charoset = fine, but i'd never eat it if i didn't have to
horseradish = blecch
hard-boiled egg in salt water = i love hard-boiled eggs! the salt makes 'em that much tastier.
manischewitz wine = my guilty pleasure. i always feel embarrassed telling wine geeks that i like the stuff. it's like the jewish night train.
matzoh = fine. egg matzoh is very good. chocolate-covered matzoh is manna from heaven. nothing especially dud about matzoh; it's the same thing as those posh swedish flatbread crackers.
latkes = OH BABY. with apple sauce please, and hold the sour cream.

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 24 April 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)

i'm not doing passover this year, which i'm glad about -- the religious part bores the shit out of me.

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 24 April 2005 14:53 (twenty years ago)

i've always wanted to do the diy haggadah thing.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 24 April 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

i had some pretty off the hook potato kugel last night. the seder was total chaos though

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 24 April 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

it's the same thing as those posh swedish flatbread crackers.

but as long as we're talking crispy flatbreads gimme papadam any day.

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 24 April 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

my major discovery of 2005: SAVTA'S PESACH GRANOLA! seriously, the best granola i've ever tried. i like the kind with the dried cranberries. i'm glad they only make this once a year, cuz it's way too addictive.

http://savtas.com/images/site/common/en/image/imagewrap.img?picture.image.url=http://savtas.com/members/402402/uploaded/SPG_product.jpg&picture.width.max=550

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 24 April 2005 16:23 (twenty years ago)

mff, what is you position on macaroons?

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Sunday, 24 April 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)

I make a potato kugel with cheese, sometimes.

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Sunday, 24 April 2005 22:13 (twenty years ago)

macaroons are nice.

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 24 April 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

funnily enough, i have never been to a seder in my life (i am not jewish, but my two best friends and most of my good acquaintances growing up were - as a result i think i have more affinity for judaism than my confirmed religion).

― joseph (joseph), Sunday, 24 April 2005 22:41 (twenty years ago)

seder masochism

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Sunday, 24 April 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

...then there was the time that my friend Steve Mandel took me along to his family's Passover dinner before we went to the legendary Mr. Bungle show I've talked about before, and had me convinced I had to wear a uniform at the dinner. Ah poor me, the ignorant goy.

Dinner itself was great but I quickly got a sense of how informal it would be in relative terms in that not only was every line of the reading interrupted by a snarky comment from everyone else in the family other than the dad, who seemed somehow world-weary and pleased at the same time (I can still hear his half-sighed "Baruch Adonai"), but Steve's younger brother attended wearing a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt. In itself perhaps merely quizzical to some eyes, but the fact that it portrayed a naked illustration of Madonna raised my eyebrows a touch.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 24 April 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

We got some chocolate macaroons from Whole Foods that were da bomb!

**manischewitz wine = it's like the jewish night train.**

Jayzus Xist I can't stop laughing at this.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Monday, 25 April 2005 10:10 (twenty years ago)

am i the only one who likes noodle kugel? the deli-made variety, anyway - i had my friend's aunt's homemade version once and it was gross.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 25 April 2005 11:46 (twenty years ago)

i think there's kugel that you are supposed to enjoy and then there is kugel that is supposed to remind you of suffering.

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Monday, 25 April 2005 11:53 (twenty years ago)

I love noodle kugel! I probably love potato kugel too, but I've not tried that yet. I am now DYING to get my hands on that granola and on some egg and choccy matzoh. Trip to KosherMart now in order.

Also AaronK WTF I thought that baking powder shit was no good for Passover!

― quincie, Monday, 25 April 2005 12:59 (twenty years ago)

am i the only one who likes noodle kugel?

every few years i try a little just to make sure i don't like it, and i don't like it! sweet noodles = one of those bridges i don't think i'll ever get across.

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 25 April 2005 13:41 (twenty years ago)

i'm not doing passover this year, which i'm glad about -- the religious part bores the shit out of me.

passover is the one religious holiday i think is pretty neat, all told

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 25 April 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

no no baking powder is fine. baking power is straight up chemical in nature. It's yeast that's no good.

sweet noodle kugel is fucking awesome. i dont know what you all are on. it's creamy and eggy and sweet, and sometimes has cherries in it.

my potato kugel turned out KICK ASS, btw, and it's great with sour cream. I turned the heat down to about 300 for the last hour, as it looked like the top was getting a bit too brown (wasnt). whatever it was, it's soft and potatoey and tasty.

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 25 April 2005 13:48 (twenty years ago)

My gf (a lovely shebrew) and I went to her coworker's new house for a very secular seder. He is a Maroocan Jew and a very good cook and apart from my neighbor spilling her wine all over me, I had a lovely time.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 25 April 2005 14:00 (twenty years ago)

Ah, sweet vs unsweet noodle kugel -- the West Coast vs East Coast battle of European Jews for cooking supremacy amongst our people (except there's no coast involved)(see also: sweet vs unsweet gefilte fish).

I personally prefer the sweet kugel, which is the equivalent of growing up in the Bronx, spitting in Biggie's face and tattooing "THUG LIFE" on my chest.

I fucked up already -- at the Rhythm and Sound show yesterday, the bathroom attendant had a jar of candies and I took a Werther's Original on my way out. About ten minutes later, I realized what I'd done. Jeeeeez.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 25 April 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

What happens if you eat the wrong food, anyway? Do you just feel bad?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 April 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

You have to go stand out in a field and wait for this:

http://users.rsise.anu.edu.au/~fergus/wallpaper/lightning/800/lightning_2.800.jpg

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 25 April 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

Actually, every year I unintentionally eat something I shouldn't. When we were kids, my mom said it was OK to eat Fruit Roll-Ups, because by her logic, "they're just fruit". Stuff like that.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 25 April 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

What's wrong with the Werther's? Is this a corn syrup issue?

― quincie, Monday, 25 April 2005 15:10 (twenty years ago)

Yes, but it's also an issue of not eating things that are otherwise kosher or specifically labelled kosher for Passover (I tend to stick to the former).

My mom bought me a bunch of matzah bagels (the GOOD kind that taste not unlike actual bread). Fittingly, I forgot to bring them home with me. I also meant to take one of her boxes of matzah for making fried matzah one night, but I forgot that too (and I can't find any near where I live). Fortunately, I did bring home some chicken, gefilte fish, and a few sweets.

So essentially, this will be a no carbs week for me (potatoes excepted). Which is perhaps a good thing, because I've been overdoing it on the carbs over the last few months. Except this means I CAN'T GET FULL.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

This was the easiest Passover ever. I got by on omelettes, lots of fruit (even more than I usually eat), and meat + vegetables for dinner. I made cheese sandwiches on matzah bagels over the last couple of days. This has helped me confirm that I do in fact eat too many carbs. I'm so used to snacking on a muffin or a sandwich, but this week I hardly missed that stuff.

Did anyone on ILX keep Passover besides me?

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah, I don't have any bread in the house (I normally shop at the bakery on Monday or Tuesday) so I'm back on the hametz wagon with a cold, savory beer. MMMMMMMMM.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:55 (twenty years ago)

i ate WAY too many macaroons this week

last night, my parents made pasta with dinner because "there's nothing about it in Leviticus"

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

i kept passover with the exception of an accidental bit of whiskey one night (while i was sick - for my throat!) but that hardly counts anyway.

also, i used the sephardic custom (im half israeli, so its ok too, hah) of rice/beans/corn being ok. except basically it just meant that i had like, soda and stuff with corn syrup in it. i never got around to having rice or beans. actually, it worked out really well. i made my matzo lasagne, that went over well, lots of fried matza, and tons of fruit. easiest year yet. still, saturday night i went out to get the now customary pizza.

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:49 (twenty years ago)

Sephardic Jews have got it going on -- rice + corn, seven days instead of eight.

I did Sephardic Passover one year when I felt like going out for nachos one night.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 2 May 2005 02:20 (twenty years ago)

I kept it! My wife tried, but forgot and had some croutons on her salad yesterday...

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 2 May 2005 03:32 (twenty years ago)

the sephardic ways make so much more sense to me.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 2 May 2005 03:34 (twenty years ago)

Corn chips are probably not kosher for passover even Sephardic style, cuz dey's probly leavened.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:02 (twenty years ago)

I felt bad for my cousin's non-Jewish girlfriend this year who was probably thinking about how "authentic" the gefilte fish was as she forced herself to swallow it. I opted out of the authentic experience myself.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:04 (twenty years ago)

this past week, i've eaten pita bread, naan, and injera. those all count as unleavened, right?

― reno sweeney (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:08 (twenty years ago)

Rule #1 of Kosher: If you're not sure, don't ask.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:10 (twenty years ago)

Corn chips are leavened but potato chips (which can be kosher for Passover) aren't? Are corn chips always baked instead of fried?

These are somewhat rhetorical questions, since Hurting's Rule #1 applies.

I had gefilte fish with my lunch four times this week. How can anyone not like the stuff?

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:28 (twenty years ago)

Corn chips are made out of corn tortilla, and corn tortilla is leavened (I think).

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:32 (twenty years ago)

And I guess potato chips are just fried potato slices. No Baked Lays, I guess.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:35 (twenty years ago)

gefilte fish reminds me of a mildewy sponge.

― reno sweeney (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 May 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

eleven months pass...

oh noes!

my aunt called tonight asking where everyone was as she had prepared her usual enough food for two dozen people meals

my mother: 'um, passover starts TOMORROW night"
aunt: ' oh"

she called her daughter-in-law and is told the same thing

so now who knows what's going on

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 00:52 (nineteen years ago)

This is going OK so far. I haven't done any of my own cooking for the last four days. There's no family left for me to visit so I have to start taking care of myself now. I'm gonna make a hugeass pot of chicken soup tomorrow and that should cover me for a few meals. I didn't end up with a stash of Passover sweets this year so I'll have to make do with fruit for dessert for the next few days.

Rather than bread, I think I'll end Passover with an assload of beer. That worked out really well last year.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 16 April 2006 05:40 (nineteen years ago)

I work at a seafood restaurant. Last night a Jewish couple came in an asked me if the crab cakes included bread as an ingredient because they couldn't eat leavened bread because they were staying kosher for passover.

Isn't this pretty inconsequential in light of crab being non-kosher?

― Jeff. (Jeff), Sunday, 16 April 2006 18:14 (nineteen years ago)

Isn't this pretty inconsequential in light of crab being non-kosher?

― WhiskeyBanjoFishbutt (Jeff), Sunday, 16 April 2006 18:14 (nineteen years ago)

kosher for passover and kosher are two separate things.

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 16 April 2006 18:26 (nineteen years ago)

Question
What food is not kosher for Passover and why?
Answer
The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chometz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chometz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. This is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.
Which brings us to another category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chometz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?
The Smak (Rabbi Moshe of Kouchi, 13th century, France) explains that products of kitniyot appear like chometz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chometz). Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot was prohibited.
The Beit Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Karo, 16th century, Israel) notes that grains may become mixed together with kitniyot, and one may inadvertently come to eat actual chometz.
* * *
In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chometz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chometz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chometz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.
Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where a Sefardi family could be eating rice on Passover - whereas their Ashkenazi neighbors will not!
* * *
What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot- based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.
Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken- wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "chollent" stew!) You should be able to find it at most health food stores. Of course, it needs to be from a closed container that is new for Pesach.
Some other things - like chestnuts and alfalfa sprouts were not included in the original prohibition of Kitniot.

To learn more, see Maimonides - Laws of Chometz and Matzah 5:1; Code of Jewish Law - OC 453; Igros Moshe OC 3:63.

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 16 April 2006 18:32 (nineteen years ago)

kosher for passover and kosher are two separate things.

I didn't realize that. But if you're eating unkosher food that prepared kosher for passover aren't you still doing wrong?

― WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot (unclejessjess), Monday, 17 April 2006 02:22 (nineteen years ago)

You're right, it's a bit nonsensical. Over the weekend, I was at a family dinner (a mix of Jews and non-Jews) and there was a shrimp platter. Normally, I would eat shrimp but on this occasion I didn't because it's Passover. Depending on how you want to look at, this makes perfect sense or absolutely no sense.

Yes, I followed the rules of Passover (no shrimp during Passover, or any other time of the year for that matter) but I wasn't consistent with my usual habits (I like shrimp). If the shrimp had been breaded, it would have been a different story. OTOH, I don't buy kosher meat so you could argue that the chicken I ate tonight is just as unkosher as the shrimp I passed up over the weekend.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:17 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't realize that. But if you're eating unkosher food that prepared kosher for passover aren't you still doing wrong?

most jews in america don't keep kosher. but passover is a religious holiday and a lot of jewish people want to do something ceremonial to keep those ties to their roots. so they do the "kosher for passover" thing and fast on yom kippur and go on with their lives. i don't think it's particularly hypocritical. it's about having a couple of days out of the year where you recognize those old-world traditions.

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 17 April 2006 05:16 (nineteen years ago)

really, we're not like catholics. we don't believe we're gonna get sent to hell if we don't kosher up for the holidays. ;-)

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 17 April 2006 05:19 (nineteen years ago)

you talk about jews and americans

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 09:39 (nineteen years ago)

and food

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

RJG otm haha

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 17 April 2006 10:48 (nineteen years ago)

omg jbr talking about jewish-americans on a thread about passover TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:14 (nineteen years ago)

rgj, what do you talk about, besides your disapproval of other people?

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:15 (nineteen years ago)

I think that that is a bit of a silly question

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:22 (nineteen years ago)

you're so "edgy"

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:23 (nineteen years ago)

no need for personal attacks

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:25 (nineteen years ago)

haha

― the enduring pueblo (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:26 (nineteen years ago)

COMMAS, PEOPLE.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:36 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.judaism.com/gif-bk/80389a.gif

― gabbneb, Monday, 31 March 2008 02:03 (eighteen years ago)

it really is worth it to get the genuine huggable matzah ball. the knock-off ones give you a rash

― burt_stanton, Monday, 31 March 2008 02:05 (eighteen years ago)

I always eat way too many macaroons. Favorite are Manichevitz chocolate chip.

I love the Hillel sandwich why because it tastes intersting.

I try to do the unleavened kosher for Passover but usually some Gentile will trick me into eating cake on the last day, arguing with me over when the holiday ends.

what's passover like round your way?

Sometimes (including this year) I visit my parents. We invite the widow over, eat lamb and boiled egg and parsley and matzo ball soup. Then we play bridge, while the dog jumps on the table and eats a golf-ball shaped hole in the honey cake.

I like the idea of the stupid son.

― felicity, Monday, 31 March 2008 02:19 (eighteen years ago)

it only occurred to me now that the reason the GHMB looked just a bit small for hugging (lol, matzoh ball is hueg) was because it might not be meant for adults. i have to see my sister's plague kit.

i was holding onto the possibility that my mom had invented 'hillel sandwich', but i'm glad it's found elsewhere as well.

my parents are abandoning me for grandma, tho i may join them if i can and the crowd isn't too large already. i might end up leading a seder - lol?

― gabbneb, Monday, 31 March 2008 02:57 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

oh yeah, the hillel sandwich is in the hagaddah isn't it

happy pesach!

― gabbneb, Sunday, 20 April 2008 03:34 (seventeen years ago)

wtf with bay area "matzah shortage"?! By Saturday night, every single grocery store in town was completely out of matzah and matzo meal.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 21 April 2008 21:17 (seventeen years ago)

Matzah blows. Sorry.

-- Hurting (Hurting), Friday, April 22, 2005 11:29 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION.

We didn't do Passover this year, as my Grandparents, who usually host, are on the other side of the country. Usually it's the seder with the reading and the singing and the wine and the plagues and the haroset and the bitter herbs and the matzoh ball soup and family arguments.

― ian, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 23:28 (seventeen years ago)

Plagues are A++++ would visit them on Egypt again.

― felicity, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 06:24 (seventeen years ago)

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