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Archive for the 'Passover' Category

Contents

Recipe for Savory Matzo Brei

Recipe for Matzoh Omelet

Recipe for Sweet Matzo Brei

Hiding the Matzo for Passover

The Symbolism of the Egg

Posts

Recipe for Savory Matzo Brei

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Matzo brei means fried matzo in Yiddish.  The traditional way to make it is with a lot of matzo – you generally use equal eggs to matzo.  Jewish people eat it around Passover. Savory Matzo Brei is salty.  There’s a different recipe for Sweet Matzo Brei.

You can put whatever you like into savory matzo brei.  Here are some suggestions: fry up any of the following first: chopped onions, green or red peppers, mushrooms, or other vegetables that you might put into a normal omelet.  You can also add cheese and/or herbs to savory matzo brei.  If you’re using cheese, I’d recommend Swiss or cheddar cheese – but use whatever you and your family like.

Here’s how you make Savory Matzo Brei:

Recipe for Savory Matzo Brei

3 Eggs
3 Matzo
1 Tablespoon Milk
Salt and Pepper to Taste

1) Fry up any vegetables you want to use in a little oil or butter, until lightly brown and soft.  Set aside.

1) Soak matzo in water for a minute or two to soften (no longer than that).  Take the matzo out of the water.

2) Break matzo into small pieces with your hands.

3) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the milk (like you would for scrambled eggs).  Add salt and pepper and stir.  Then stir the egg mixture in with the matzos.

 

4) Put pan with vegetables back on medium heat heat.  Then add the egg mixture.  Break up like you would scrambled eggs while frying.

5) Add small cubes of cheese if you’re using cheese.

When it’s firm (not liquidy), it’s ready to eat.

Bon appetit!

Mama Lisa

PS If you’d like to try something different, check out my recipe for Matzo Omelet.

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Posted in Breakfast and Brunch, Countries & Cultures, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Languages, Main Course, Omelets, Passover, Recipes of the World, Savory Matzo Brei, USA, Yiddish | No Comments »

Recipe for Matzoh Omelet

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

I’ll give the recipe here for a matzo omelet. It’s inspired by the dish called Matzo brei. There’s a little story behind this and I’ll tell it in a moment. Matzo brei means fried matzo. The traditional way to make it is with a lot of matzo – you generally use equal eggs to matzo. Jewish people eat it around Passover. A matzo omelet is different, it’s an omelet with matzo in it – more egg less matzo!

A few years ago, my mother-in-law was explaining matzo brei to me. I suppose I misunderstood her explanation. I went home and made a traditional omelet for my husband with matzo in it. I made it using a little matzo per egg. It turns out that he loved it! I made him omelets like that for years, thinking I was cooking authentic Jewish food. My bad! I wasn’t. I had come up with a new invention: a matzo omelet. It wasn’t until this year, when my sister-in-law taught me the real way to make matzo brei, that I learnt the difference. I personally prefer the matzo omelet to the savory matzo brei.

So let’s get to the recipe! I’ll start by saying the you can put whatever you like into the matzo omelet. Here are some suggestions: fry up any of the following first: chopped onions, green or red peppers, mushrooms, or other vegetables that you might put into a normal omelet. You can also add cheese to the matzo omelet. I’d recommend Swiss or cheddar cheese – use whatever you and your family like.

Here’s the basic recipe for the matzo omelette:

Matzo Omelet

3 Eggs
1 Matzo
1/4 c. Milk
Salt and Pepper to Taste

1) Melt butter in a frying pan, fry up any vegetables you want to use on medium heat.  When they’re soft and lightly brown, turn off the heat and set aside.

2) Beat the eggs with a fork. Add the milk, salt and pepper and stir again.

3) Break up the matzo into bite sized pieces and put into the egg mixture.

4) Stir the matzo in the with eggs

5) Put the frying pan with the vegetables back on medium heat and add the egg mixture.

6) Once the omelet starts to get firm you can add cheese to half of the pan.

7) Once the cheese starts to melt, and the omelet gets less liquidy, you can flip half of the omelet over the other half. I flipped it and cut it in half to help it cook more quickly. You may need to lower the heat if the bottom starts to cook too quickly.

8) You can flip the omelet again after a couple of minutes, make sure the inside gets cooked. Once the eggs are firm on the inside, you’re ready to eat it!

Bon appetit!

Mama Lisa

PS I used whole milk for the omelet because we had it in our fridge for another recipe. I don’t normally use whole milk, but 1%. The whole milk gave the omelet a more custardy taste. More yummy, though more fattening. Interesting to know as a cook!

Next: Recipe for Savory Matzo Brei

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Posted in Breakfast and Brunch, Countries & Cultures, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Main Course, Omelets, Passover, Recipes of the World, Savory Matzo Brei, USA, Yiddish | 2 Comments »

Recipe for Sweet Matzo Brei

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Matzo Brei means fried matzo in Yiddish.  This is a good dish to make near Passover.  That’s when most Jewish people eat it.  I’d suggest trying it even if you’re not Jewish.  Here’s one good reason: Matzoh is always on sale around Passover and there’s tons of it in the store.  How can you not buy a box?

After you buy your box of matzo, I’ll tell you two things you can do with it!  You can made Sweet Matzo Brei or Savory Matzo Brei.  Don’t go away – don’t be fearful!  If you like sweet things, you’ll like Sweet Matzo Brei.  I was suspicious about it for years.  I KID YOU NOT!  I would never in a million years have put matzo, with eggs and syrup.  But man, this is good.  If you like pancakes or French toast with syrup, you’ll like it.  If you don’t, then try the savory way (which I’ll explain how to do in my next post).  My savory way is different from everyone else’s.  Mine is like a matzo omelet.  Sounds a bit strange, yes!  But it’s actually very good.  That one I have been making for years.

So, let’s get to it!

You can choose how much you’d like to make depending on the number of people eating.  The key to making Sweet Matzah Brei is to use one egg per matzo. We used 10 eggs and ten matzohs for 3 adults, 2 big teenage boys with hearty appetites and 2 young girls (one six and one eight year old).  Using that as a general rule, it would be about  1 to 1 1/2 matzo per person for a serving size, depending upon how hungry the people are and how much they like to eat.

Recipe for Sweet Matzo Brei

What you need:

1 Egg per Matzo
Milk (1 teaspoon per egg)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Butter for Frying
Maple Syrup

1) Soak matzo in water for a minute or two to soften (no longer than that).  Take the matzo out of the water.

2) Break matzo into small pieces with your hands.

3) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the milk (like you would for scrambled eggs).  Add a dash or two of cinnamon and nutmeg and stir.  Then stir the egg mixture in with the matzos.

 

4) Melt a slab of butter in a frying pan (enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Add egg mixture.  Break up like you would like scrambled eggs while frying on medium heat.

Serve with maple syrup – yum!

Many thanks to Dale Durdunas for teaching me this great recipe!

Next: Recipe for Savory Matzo Brei and a Matzo Omelet!

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Posted in Breakfast and Brunch, Countries & Cultures, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Languages, Main Course, Passover, Recipes of the World, Savory Matzo Brei, Sweet Matzo Brei, USA, Yiddish | No Comments »

Hiding the Matzo for Passover

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

One Passover tradition that children love is "Hide the Matzoh".  An adult hides a piece of matzo that’s wrapped in a cloth napkin or put in a baggie.  Then the children try to find it.  Whoever finds the matzoh gets a prize.  The prize is often chocolate money (gelt) or real money (like a dollar).

“Hide the Matzoh” can also be part of a larger tradition called Afrikoman.  Here are some details:  In a traditional Seder (Passover meal), there are three whole matzos placed on the Passover table and covered with a cloth napkin.  Before the Seder begins, the middle matzo is broken in half.  The smaller piece is placed back on the plate and the larger one is wrapped and hidden (if there are kids at the Seder).  This piece – the larger piece of the middle matzo – is called the “Afrikoman”.

After the matzo has been found by the children, and the Seder meal has been eaten, the guests eat the Afrikoman. 

Some families have a different tradition where the children "steal" the Afrikoman and then hold it for ransom.  The adults then have to give money or a gift to the children to get it back!

Traditionally, the Afrikoman is supposed to be the last thing that’s eaten of the day and it should be eaten before midnight.

Chad Gadyo is a traditional Passover song – you can click the link for the lyrics, a translation, midi and score.  You can hear one version of it below…

Happy Passover!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, Games, Hide the Matzoh, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Passover, Passover Songs, Seder, USA | No Comments »

The Symbolism of the Egg

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

As Easter approaches, it’s natural to think a little about eggs!

In days gone by the egg, due to its shape, was a symbol of the earth. Thanks to its obvious association with the beginning of life, it has also been the basis of many ancient creation stories. It has been a symbol of fertility, rebirth and the cycle of life. These latter symbols are so close to what Springtime is all about that it’s no wonder it’s been an important part of Spring celebrations since pre-Christian times.

As Europe became Christian, eggs became a symbol of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. In the past, Christians gave up eggs for Lent (the 40 days before Easter when it’s customary to give up different types of food). But even though people didn’t eat them, the hens kept laying them! So people would hard boil and decorate them. This would help preserve them longer and serve as part of the holiday festivities.

The egg is also part of the Jewish Passover holiday that takes place in the Spring. The egg is placed on the Seder plate and is a symbol of sacrifice and loss. Yet to some it also symbolizes the full cycle of life, and therefore hope and rebirth. (The egg is a more recent addition to the Seder plate compared to the other symbolic items that are found there and its symbolic meaning seems to be more open to interpretation.)

In China, red eggs are given out at the one month birthday of a new baby. It’s customary to hold a Red Egg and Ginger Party at this time. Once again, the source seems to be the egg’s role as a symbol of fertility and the beginning of life.

So here we come full circle (or oval) with the egg as a wonderful symbol of birth, renewal and rebirth. This is something wonderful to consider as Springtime approaches in the northern hemisphere, where the Earth will soon come back to life!

Feel free to let us know about any special symbolism of the egg in your culture in the comments below.

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Posted in Austria, Belgium, Birth Customs, Bulgaria, China, Countries & Cultures, Customs, Czech Republic, Denmark, Easter, Easter Eggs, England, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Holidays Around the World, Hong Kong, Mama Lisa, Passover, Poland, Red Egg and Ginger Parties, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Seasonal, Seder, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spring, USA, Wales | 3 Comments »

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