CHAROSET

Traditional Seder accompaniment

This paste-like, sweet spread is a prescribed part of the traditional Seder. Its mortar-like consistency is intended to remind Jews of the bricks and mortar our ancestors labored with as slaves in Egypt. Quite incidentally, it is delicious and tastes wonderful spread on matzah. This is the traditional charoset from the Ashkenazic (Eastern European) Jewish tradition; very different, but equally delicious, charoset recipes, using such ingredients as dates, raisins, and sesame, can be found in the various Sephardic communities (e.g., Yemenite, Persian, Turkish, Moroccan, etc.).

Ingredients

(2 cups)

150 g finely chopped nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, filberts)
30 ml sugar or honey (or a mixture)
100-200 g chopped or grated apples (about 4-6 medium apples)
2.5 ml cinnamon
sweet wine

Procedure

Mix nuts, sugar, honey, apples and cinnamon together until well-blended.
Add wine slowly until the texture resembles a thick paste, like mortar.
Taste and adjust cinnamon, sugar, wine amounts.

Notes

This recipe yields about enough for the Seder table. If you like this as much as we do, you will want to make more.

Some people prefer a chunkier, less smoothly-blended charoset.

If you live in an area where Kosher for Passover ground nuts (not groundnuts) are available, they save a lot of chopping time and lead to a smoother consistency. If you're lucky enough to have a Kosher for Passover food processor, you will also save a lot of arm exercise. And remember, kids love to chop!

Rating

Difficulty: easy.
Time: 20 minutes to several hours, depending on how much hand-chopping you have to do.
Precision: no need to measure.

Contributor

 
Tovah Hollander 
UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Los Angeles, California USA 
{ihnp4!sdcrdcf,seismo!hao}!cepu!tovah

Recipe last modified: 16 Mar 87

Original header

Path: decwrl!recipes
From: tovah@cepu.uucp (Tovah Hollander)
Newsgroups: mod.recipes
Subject: RECIPE: Charoset
Message-ID: <9191@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: 9 Apr 87 06:29:32 GMT
Sender: recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM
Organization: UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
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Approved: reid@decwrl.UUCP

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