Charoset
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- There is a place in the Hebrew Bible called Harosheth.
Charoset or charoses (Hebrew: חֲרֽוֹסֶת [ḥărōset]) is a sweet, dark-colored, lumpy paste served during the Passover Seder. Its color and texture recall the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt. The word charoset comes from the Hebrew word cheres - חרס - "clay." Marror is a very special substance on the plate which are placed together with it on the Passover Seder Plate and are consumed as part of the Seder ritual, the charoset serves an ancillary function. Before eating the maror—which is either horseradish or romaine lettuce—participants dip that vegetable into the charoset and then shake off the charoset before eating the maror. This action brings home the idea of how hard the Israelites worked in Egypt, combining a food that brings tears to the eyes (the maror) with one that resembles the mortar used to build Egyptian cities and storehouses.
Despite its symbolism, the charoset is a tasty concoction which is a favorite of children. During the Seder meal, it may be eaten liberally, often spread on matzah. Some people believe it is the tastiest thing eaten during the holiday.
There are as many recipes for charoset as there are Jewish families.
- A typical recipe from the Eastern European (or Ashkenazi) tradition would include nuts, apples, cinnamon, and sweet wine—ingredients mentioned by King Solomon in Song of Songs as recalling the attributes of the Jewish people themselves. Honey or sugar may be used as a sweetener and binder: the mixture is not cooked.
- Recipes in the Sephardi tradition are usually cooked and may include raisins and ingredients native to the Middle East, such as figs, dates and sesame seeds. For example:
- In Egypt, it is made only of dates, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and sweet wine.
- In Greece and Turkey, it consists of apples, dates, chopped almonds and wine.
- In Iraq and Central Asia it sometimes consists of grape jelly
- In Italy, it can include chestnuts
- In Spanish and Portuguese communities of the New World, such as Surinam, it may include coconut.
[edit] Among Mizrahim
Not all Jews call the haroset "haroset". Amongst some of the Jews of the Middle-East the haroset is called Halegh. The exact meaning of the word Halegh is not clear. Rav Saadia Gaon uses the word and attributes it to a kind of walnut that was a mandatory ingredient in the preparation of the halegh.
Parts of the Jewish Diaspora in Persia have a tradition of including 40 ingredients in the halegh. The 40 signify the forty years of wandering in the desert. Included are all the fruits mentioned in the Song of Songs: Apples {Chapter 2: vs. 3} , figs {Chapter 2: vs. 13} , pomegranates {Chapter 4: vs. 3 , grapes {Chapter 2: vs. 15}, walnuts {Chapter 6: vs. 11}, dates {Chapter 7: vs. 7} with the addition of wine {Chapter 1: vs. 2} ,saffron {Chapter 4: vs. 14 and cinnamon {Chapter 4: vs. 14. To arrive at the magical number of forty some recipes include the following ingredients:
1 to 5: five different varieties of apples
6 to 7: two different varieties of pears
8 to 10: three different varieties of grapes
11 to 12: two different varieties of dried figs
13: fresh ginger, grated
14: dates
15 to 18: dried apricots, dried peaches, dried cherries and dried prunes
19 to 21: red raisins, yellow raisins, currants
22 to 26: the following nuts - walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios and filberts [all dried roasted without any oils and unsalted]
27: pomegranate juice
28 to 35: the following spices – cinnamon as the dominant spice, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, fenugreek seeds, saffron, cloves and black peppers [all crushed]
36 to 39: white wine, red wine, rose wine, vinegar
40: starting with the late 1950s bananas were added as well
All fruits are washed, dried, peeled and chopped up. The nuts are dry roasted in a wok without any oils and shelled. All the dried fruits are chopped up. All the ingredients are traditionally mixed in a mortar, but since the 1990s, the use of an electric mixer has become common.
