For Passover, Jews celebrate freedom with symbolic recipes, holy rituals (2024)

By NAOMI KAUFMAN PRICE

If Jewish people enjoy one thing more than a good argument, it has to be food. Or maybe a good argument about food?

So here's the question as we approach Passover: Ashkenazi or Sephardi? Most American Jews come from the former tradition, with roots in Eastern Europe and Russia. The latter generally describes the Jews of the North Africa and the Mediterranean.

Even a nice roasted chicken tastes different when the cook chooses one approach over the other.

Better? Discuss.

The distinction between the two narrowed this year for more American Jews, and here we're talking religious observance, not taste. The Conservative movement joined Reform Jews in loosening the restrictions on what kinds of foods may be eaten.

The importance of Passover can't be overstated. This year, Passover begins the evening of Friday, April 22.

Each year, Jews gather at homes to share the story: An Egyptian pharaoh who enslaved the Jews; the baby Moses who grew up to lead his people; the 10 plagues; the quick flight that left no time for bread to rise; how God split the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) ahead of the pursuing pharaoh; the granting of the commandments at Mount Sinai, where God told the people, "I will take you unto me as a nation." Their freedom is our freedom; their nation, our nation.

Recipes included with this story: Roast Chicken With Tangerines, Green Onions and Date Syrup; Leek and Cheese Matzo Pie (Mina di Prasa Kon Keso); Spring Vegetable Stew (Carciofata di Trieste); Passover Hazelnut Sponge Cake (Pan di Spagna Alle Nocciole).

Food, and wine, play integral roles in the Seder, the name of the ritual gathering. Matzo, unleavened bread, recalls the haste in leaving Egypt; six items on the Seder plate symbolize separate aspects of slavery and freedom. Adults drink wine four times to symbolize four stages to freedom as described in Exodus. A fifth cup is set out for the prophet Elijah, the harbinger of the Messiah who visits each home.

Beyond the ritual foods in the Haggadah -- the story of the exodus -- family custom often determines the dinner menu. My mother made light, fluffy matzo balls for her chicken soup; so do I.

Custom and rules are two different things. While most American Jews don't keep kosher or go through the full ritual of cleaning out all chametz, or leavened products, and changing their dishware, a good number shun breads and grain-based foods, such as pasta, during the eight-day holiday.

The western, Ashkenazi, tradition forbade beans, rice and several other foods; not so with the Sephardi Jews. The Conservative movement in December joined Reform Judaism in allowing legumes and rice.

These recipes come from the Sephardi tradition but can be enjoyed whether you follow the "old" ways or the new. If you decide to go with the new, serve a rice pilaf instead of, say, a potato kugel alongside.

These recipes come from the latter, but they comply with the former's rules; a win-win.

The Spring Vegetable Stew from Joyce Goldstein's new "The New Mediterranean Jewish Table" illustrates this best.

Goldstein calls it "the ideal dish to serve at Passover, as it includes all of the vegetables of the holiday season."

True, but don't pass the recipe by if you don't eat peas during Passover. Simply add more asparagus, carrots and artichokes, and no one will be the wiser.

Minas, or matzo pies, are common Passover dishes in Italy (think lasagna) and Greece. This recipe would be a perfect main course for a vegetarian Seder. If you don't serve meat and dairy together, save this dish for Sunday brunch.

We're coming to the end of the winter citrus season, and the Roast Chicken with Tangerines, Green Olives and Date Syrup makes quite the finale for that fruit. Tangerines get labeled every which way: mandarins, "Cuties," Satsumas; use what's available. For a crowd, you might find it more convenient to use dark meat pieces rather than a whole chicken. No need to buy a whole jar of date syrup, as you can make a more-or-less substitute, though once you taste this chicken, you'll want to make it again and again.

Amelia Saltsman, author of "The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen," advises, too, that if you don't care for spicy food, substitute smoked paprika only for the harissa. As a bonus for the Seder cook, she notes, "Once you pop the chicken in the oven, the dish pretty much takes care of itself."

The Passover Hazelnut Sponge Cake sounds like it comes from a made-in-Oregon cookbook. Hazelnuts are a favorite in Italy, where this recipe originates. Goldstein calls it a family favorite. A bonus: Make it ahead of time.

-- Naomi Kaufman Price is a Portland freelance writer.