Letter from Boston

Passover Food

By MASAKO YAMADA

When I was in college, a small table of Passover food would go up in all of the dining halls during Passover week. Some of the things on that table were matzo, boiled eggs, horseradish and coconut macaroons. I knew some general Jewish traditions and some of the rituals of Passover — for instance, I knew that the main Passover meal is called the Seder and I knew what each of the food elements symbolize. But the religious subtleties were beyond me. I always grabbed a couple of matzo and macaroons because I liked how they tasted, but I didn't think much of it. I now realize that the rules about food are a lot more complicated than I suspected. I've gained some of this new knowledge this week.

Matzo is the most distinctive food on the Passover table. It looks like a huge cracker. This is the bread of the meal. The reason it is flat is because it isn't leavened: The Jews were in an awful hurry to escape and they didn't have time to let their bread rise. Nowadays, not only must the bread not have any yeast or baking powder in it, official matzo must be mixed and baked in a total of 18 minutes or less! I knew that matzo is served during the Seder on the first night of Passover, but what I never knew was that observant Jews don't eat any leavened foods during the entire week of Passover. In fact, I've read that the only grain products they are allowed to eat are flat matzo and breads, cakes or pancakes made with crushed matzo (still no leavening agents). I have a recipe for a Passover cake that uses powdered matzo and potato starch. This may seem a bit strict, and in fact it seems that many of the Jews I know don't observe ― or don't even know — all of the rules. Some of them have changed over the years as well. A New York Times article that I read said that among Sephardic Jews, eating rice during Passover is common.

For those who are clueless about what is right or wrong to eat during Passover, there exist a slew of packaged and instant products that are already approved by rabbis. My local supermarket has a small kosher foods section throughout the entire year, but dedicates almost an entire aisle for Passover products during Passover week. A small minority of observant Jews keep kosher year-round and follow the special Passover rules during Passover. There are many instant cakes and pastries that one can make using matzo. There are huge 5-pound (2.3-kilogram) packages of plain matzo and smaller packages of matzo flavored with spices like onion or garlic. There is instant matzo ball soup that comes in a cup like cup ramen. This supermarket can afford to have such a wide selection since there are many Jews in the area, but it should be kept in mind that less than 5 percent of the American population is Jewish and that most Jews live in urban areas on the coasts.

Most people know that the main taboo item of the kosher kitchen is pork, and that animals other than pigs must be killed and hung properly. Seafood without scales is also forbidden. One of the more interesting laws, to my mind, is that milk and meat can't be combined. This obviously means that cheeseburgers, much less ham and cheese sandwiches, aren't allowed. Some people take the rule further by using separate sets of pots, pans and dishes for dairy and for meat cooking. In fact, I've read that some kosher homes have two sinks to wash those utensils separately. If one wishes to cook a truly kosher meal in what was originally a non-kosher kitchen, the kitchen must be purified by a rabbi. It's not enough for the rabbi to pray. A recent Boston Globe article highlighted a kosher dinner that was prepared at a fancy hotel downtown. All of the metal counters had to be blowtorched and even the dishwasher had to be washed with caustic acid and rinsed out with hot water several times.

All these laws exist for complicated reasons, and I'm sure I've missed the significance of many of them. That said, I'm very interested in knowing how food ties in with religion. One of my friends joked, "Given your love of food, I'm surprised that you're not more religious." I now see that Passover has intricate food rules. But I know there is one Jewish holiday whose rules don't have to be explained to me: Yom Kippur. It is the day of fasting.

Shukan ST: April 24, 1998

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