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The Mystery of Passover

Anyone know what the real mystery of Passover is? Bet you didn't even know Passover had a mystery.

I'm not talkin' the Four Questions.
(I wish I could remember some of my late Uncle George's riffs on them. He was an old Vaudevillian, and used to have us in stiches during seders.)

It's also not where the Afikomen is hidden. (I don't even remember what we got for finding it. Maybe a nickel? Ah, inflation.)

It's not even who the son too stupid to ask refers to during the seder. (Since he was the only boy around the table, his sisters and I used to point to my cousin, Doug, when this part of the Haggadah came up.)

The real mystery of Passover isn't ancient. As far as I know, it's only decades old, but it has plagued, plagued I say, every generation of Jewish kids since my own. I myself have pondered this mystery since childhood. Hint: I am still haunted by the seeming senselessness of the mystery every time I pass through the "Jewish food" aisle at the grocery store.

Ready? The mystery of Passover is simply this: How come you can't get kosher marshmellows any time of year except the Kosher for Passover ones that somehow magically appear right before Passover? I mean, it doesn't make any sense, does it? As a kid, the weeks before Passover, and over the holiday itself, were the only times I could roast marshmellows over an open fire. Well, OK. It was the open fire of our gas stove, but still. Funny how Passover has always been my favorite holiday, despite the obvious association with camping - not just the roasting marshmellows thing, but the whole wandering in the desert thing.

My favorite Passover food (besides the marshmellows) wasn't the gefilte fish* (imagine that), but the charoset. Yum. (Click that link for a recipe.)

*The first time Tim came to a seder, he was given a lovely piece of gefilte fish in jellied broth. (Hey, you pay extra for that!) He looked at it, looked at me and asked, "What am I supposed to do with it?" I replied, "Don't even think of throwing it back."


Comments (6)

Eric Riback:

Gefilte fish is Jewish Sushi and thank G-d it's not endangered.

Although, it should be!

I dunno, Eric. I think it's more like sushi that someone chewed up, spit out and made a mold of to resemble the original. (Hope I didn't ruin your meal.)

Charoses: food of the Gods! I make two kinds-- one traditional, and a new one with apricots and almonds... Heavenly.

But even better still is the matzo praline dessert, that I swear, I didn't even want to try the first year I made them, because I'm not a praline person. But it was like crack (or so I'm told)-- I took one little bit and I couldn't get enough! They disappear around here as fast as I can make them! If you haven't had them, I'll send you the recipe. They're uber-easy to make, and SO yummy!

Carry on!

I'm a bit dubious, but I do love matzo brei, so... what's not to like? Maybe post it here in the comments when you get a chance in case anyone else is interested?

Jack:

Very true. What happens to them.

A reader too shy to post on the blog, emailed,
"The marshmallows that are kosher are made from fish bones and you can get them regularly in large kosher communities now as they have become "cheaper" and more available than they used to be. Regular gelatin that goes into making regular marshmallows are often made with pig or horse parts."

Feh and double feh!


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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 29, 2010 12:52 PM.

The previous post in this blog was River City Readers.

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