Kosher for Passover

Oftentimes on the final day of Passover I’m writing a list of the foods I can’t wait to eat once Passover ends, but there’s one Passover treat that I crave year-round— Oppenheimer semi-sweet chocolate chips. They’re only sold in the weeks leading up to Passover, but they taste so much better than ordinary chocolate chips, so I load up on enough to last me several months.

What do Jews and chocolate have in common? According to Rabbi Deborah Prinz, author of On the Chocolate Trail, more than you’d expect. Prinz’s book takes you on her worldwide expedition on the chocolate trail, exploring the historical legacy of chocolate and religion. Included in the book are recipes, a consumer’s guide to buying ethically produced chocolate and a list of chocolate museums and tours around the world. I spoke with Rabbi Prinz about her favorite chocolate Passover recipes, the most bizarre chocolate combination she’s tried and what’s next for her journey on the chocolate trail.  

Jews, by nature, love to debate, and when it comes to a simple how do you make charoset you won’t get one answer, but three. The Ashkenazi charoset typically consists of chopped walnuts, apples and sweet wine tossed together, while the Sephardic version is spicier and uses a variety of dried fruits and nuts. Then there’s Moroccan-truffle charoset, a version of the Sephardic charoset shaped into neat, little cinnamon-coated balls.  So, if you’re looking to spice up your charoset, Tori Avey’s blog, Shiksa in the Kitchen, has the solution.

On any given day, a wind might blow through the farmlands of South America, pick up an errant grain of barley and deposit it nearby among the vast rows of cultivated quinoa. If that barley manages to make its way into a sifted batch of quinoa and avoid detection during repackaging, it could wind up gracing your seder table on Passover night.

Due to all the many food Thou Shalt Nots on Pesach, baking (for a baker like yours truly) is the hardest part of preparing for the holiday. Because, of course, without the key ingredient of flour, cookies, cakes and pies are virtually impossible to make.

Many cooks get by substituting matzah meal, basically ground-up matzah. But every year, when Passover rolls around, I set about creating and testing recipes that don’t call for one drop of it. I understand that we’re supposed to eat matzah at the seder, and I can even get behind the occasional slice slathered in butter, but matzah-flavored cake? Count me out.

So if you can’t have flour, and you can’t have its matzah-flavored substitute, you need something to give desserts body and texture: Chocolate!

Here are three recipes that are completely flour-free, and chocolate-filled. The chocolate cookies are incredibly simple and tasty, like a richer, chewier chocolate meringue. The almond chocolate cookies are buttery with just a hint of sweet, while the classic chocolate mousse is rich and creamy — the perfect end to any meal. They are also great for any gluten-free baking you want to do year round.

Jeff and Jodie Morgan, renowned kosher food and wine connoisseurs, dished to Gamliel Kronemer about their Passover braised lamb shanks and chocolate almond torte recipes.

When it comes to hosting a knockout Passover seder, the best person to turn to for home entertaining inspiration is Martha Stewart. She has 22 delicious, elegant, and creative Passover recipes to serve at your seders and to get you through the other six days of Passover. Her tzimmes, braised brisket, and Passover popovers look scrumptious, but our favorite recipe is her potato kugel gratin, a French take on bubbe’s original. 

If you've made it this far: Congratulations. The cleaning, scrubbing, scraping and burning is all over. So with the hard part behind you, take some time this Hol Hamoed to have fun in the kitchen and whip up some delicious, and obviously kosher for Passover, candy!

Jews around the tri-state area will clear store shelves of kosher-for-Passover goods over the next week — if there are any still left. From matzah to macaroons, supermarkets are offering a wide array of goods for the weeklong holiday, which is why A&P Supermarkets — and its banner stores Pathmark, Waldbaum’s and Food Emporium — are eager to reach this market. To that end they recently hired Barry Eizik to fill a newly created role as kosher category manager, and work to expand and improve the chain’s kosher offerings.