Charoset or Haroset

photo from Wikipedia

This year we are preoccupied with the covid-19 virus. Everyone is worried, careful, and wondering how long the anxiety will last. However, covid-19 virus notwithstanding, Pesach will begin on Wednesday night, April 8, 2020. In preparation for that day, I am thinking a lot about charoset. Charoset is one of the fabulous unique flavours we have on that most special night. Maybe it’s an escape, but at least it’s an innocent escape.

Charoset (חרוסת) is a sweet brown paste generally made of fruits, nuts, wine, and spices. The word Charoset may be from the word cheres- חרס, the Hebrew word for clay. The brown sticky spread is designed to remind us of the mortar that the enslaved Israelites used in ancient Egypt. There are many recipes from all over the world each delicious in its own right.

Ashkenazi charoset from Wikipedia

Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe tend to have a charoset made of chopped apples, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, sweet red wine and honey. Whether your family came from Russia, Poland, Romania or Hungary, they probably made it that way and that’s what you grew up eating at your seder table.

Mizrachi Jews – whose families come from the Middle East and North Africa Have many different recipes. It seems that each community made its own style of charoset, one that is very different from the Ashkenazi flavour.

Hardy apples walnuts are the main ingredients in the European version. Dates are a staple in the Arab world, and so they are found in nearly every Mizrachi recipe. The European version uses cinnamon as its spice. The Mizrachi flavours include ginger, cardamon, and nutmeg. The Eastern charoset recipes will use pistachios, almonds, pine nuts and/or hazelnuts in the mix.

Figs, cinnamon, cardamon, lemon, ginger –
perfect if there is a nut allergy

Each year I make a few different recipes for charoset. I do the traditional Ahkenazi flavour, a Mizrachi flavour, and my favourite- a Shir haShirim creation. Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs), is read on the Shabbat during Pesach. It is a very romantic love song which describes two lovers seeking  and longing for each other. (In traditional Judaism it is regarded as an allegory for God’s love toward the Jewish people.) Throughout this love poem there are numerous descriptions of nature. One of my favourite verses describes the scent of spices wafting on the soft breezes.  Rabbi Yitzchak Luria  from Tzfat, who lived in the 16th Century suggested making charoset from the nuts, fruits, and spices mentioned in the Song of Songs.

Over each of the next weeks leading up to Pesach I will include a recipe from another culture. Below I have listed the fruits, nuts and spices mentioned in Shir haShirim (Song of Songs) with their sources- you can create your own recipe. I have also included the traditional Ashkenazi recipe.If you want to send on YOUR charoset recipe it would be lovely to find out what you do.

Stay safe, and be healthy. This too shall pass. Have a good week and a good Shabbat, Laya

Ingredients for a Shir haShirim Charoset  (with quotations from the original text. )

• APPLES 2:3  Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men.
• APPLES 2:5  Feed me with dainties, refresh me with apples
• FIGS 2:13  The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
• POMEGRANATE  4:13  Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates     GRAPES 2:15  … our vineyards (grape vines) are in blossom.
• WALNUTS  6:11  I went down into the walnut grove…
• DATES 7:7   This thy stature is like to a palm-tree…
  ADDITION OF WINE 1:2   For thy love is better than wine.                       SPICES 4: 13, 14  henna with spikenard plants,  Spikenard and saffron, calamus and  cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spice

Traditional Ashkenazi Charoset

• 3 medium apples- Canadians prefer macintosh (!) peeled, cored, and finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet red wine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon honey

A Rosh HaShana Card

art and design by Laya Crust

Rosh HaShana starts next week, and I am reposting a do-it-yourself  pop-up card with a pomegranate theme.

The pomegranate is beautiful. It’s one of the biblical seven species of Israel, and it’s a favourite fruit for the new year. It is often used as a special fruit for a blessing on the second night of Rosh HaShana. There is a theory that each pomegranate has 613 seeds- the number of “mitzvot” or commandments we were given to observe.  By choosing the pomegranate we are acknowledging the 613 commandments.

We want our friends, relatives-  and ourselves- to have a happy, worry free, healthy, peaceful, year.  Here is a New Year’s card that you can make yourself. Go ahead and have some fun.

Start by printing the picture below on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper: We’ll call it ” Model 1″

Fold the sheet in half lengthwise.

Take your page and cut along the solid line through both halves of the paper. DO NOT cut through that blank space in the centre of the half circle near the words “without any”.Now you have cut the shape of a pomegranate.

Fold the page in half widthwise. The message “Shana Tova u’Metukah” (in Hebrew) will be on one side and all the text will be on the other.

Fold the page as shown above.
Pull the pomegranate gently towards you.  The pomegranate should extend out and the rest of the card folds in the opposite way. Does that make sense? So, below you can see all the steps.And here is the ultimate greeting!..

So get out the honey cake and a cup of tea, print up a couple of pages from “Model 1” and with just a pair of scissors a piece of paper and some patience you can wow your friends and impress your family with a 3-D card!

If you are a teacher you might even want to do this with your class.

All the best for a wonderful, healthy and peaceful  New Year!

Laya and family

Rosh HaShana- Happy New Year!

art and design by Laya Crust

Rosh HaShana always seems to creep up before we know it, and this year more than ever. September has just started. We just enjoyed Labour Day. Students are getting back to class. And, guess what?  Rosh HaShana starts next week. To make things a little better I thought we could do a craft together- make a pop-up card with a pomegranate theme.

The pomegranate is beautiful. It’s one of the biblical seven species of Israel, and it’s a favourite fruit for the new year. It is often used as a special fruit for a blessing on the second night of Rosh HaShana. There is a theory that each pomegranate has 613 seeds- the number of “mitzvot” or commandments we were given to observe.  By choosing the pomegranate we are acknowledging the 613 commandments.

We want our friends, relatives-  and ourselves- to have a happy, worry free, healthy, peaceful, year.  Here is a New Year’s card that you can make yourself. Go ahead and have some fun.

Start by printing the picture below on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper: We’ll call it ” Model 1″

Fold the sheet in half lengthwise.

Take your page and cut along the solid line through both halves of the paper. DO NOT cut through that blank space in the centre of the half circle near the words “without any”.Now you have cut the shape of a pomegranate.

Fold the page in half widthwise. The message “Shana Tova u’Metukah” (in Hebrew) will be on one side and all the text will be on the other.

Fold the page as shown above.
Pull the pomegranate gently towards you.  The pomegranate should extend out and the rest of the card folds in the opposite way. Does that make sense? So, below you can see all the steps.And here is the ultimate greeting!..

So get out the honey cake and a cup of tea, print up a couple of pages from “Model 1” and with just a pair of scissors a piece of paper and some patience you can wow your friends and impress your family with a 3-D card!

If you are a teacher you might even want to do this with your class.

All the best for a wonderful, healthy and peaceful  New Year!

Laya and family

Charoset or Haroset

photo courtesy of enwikipedia

This year, 2020, Pesach begins on Wednesday night, April 15. There is a lot of preparation for Pesach- cleaning, shopping and preparing. Many of us are distressed by the current covid-19 virus scare. Some people distract themselves with movies, others with cleaning, but I distract myself with charoset flavours from other traditions. Charoset is one of the fabulous unique flavours we have on that most special night.

Charoset (חרוסת) is a sweet brown paste generally made of fruits, nuts, wine and spices. The word Charoset is from the word cheres- חרס, the Hebrew word for clay. The brown sticky spread is designed to remind us of the mortar that the enslaved Israelites used in ancient Egypt. There are many recipes from all over the world each delicious in its own right.

Standard Ashkenazi ingredients

Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe tend to have a charoset made of chopped apples, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, sweet red wine and honey. Whether your family came from Russia, Poland, Romania or Hungary, they probably made it that way and that’s what you grew up eating at your seder table.

Mizrachi Jews – whose families come from the Middle East and North Africa Have many different recipes. It seems that each community made its own style of charoset, one that is very different from the Ashkenazi flavour.

Hardy apples walnuts are the main ingredients in the European version. Dates are a staple in the Arab world, and so they are found in nearly every Mizrachi recipe. The European version uses cinnamon as its spice. The Mizrachi flavours include ginger, cardamon, and nutmeg. The Eastern charoset recipes will use pistachios, almonds, pine nuts and/or hazelnuts in the mix.

Dates, figs, cinnamon, cardamon, lemon, ginger –
perfect if there is a nut allergy

Each year I make a few different recipes for charoset. I do the traditional Ahkenazt flavour, a mizrachi flavour, and my favourite- a Shir haShirim creation. Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs), is read on the Shabbat during Pesach. It is a very romantic love song which describes two lovers seeking  and longing for each other. (In traditional Judaism it is regarded as an allegory for God’s love toward the Jewish people.) Throughout this love poem there are numerous descriptions of nature. One of my favourite verses describes the scent of spices wafting on the soft breezes.  Rabbi Yitzchak Luria  from Tzfat, who lived in the 16th Century suggested making charoset from nuts, fruits, spices mentioned in the Song of Songs.

Below I have listed the fruits, nuts and spices mentioned in Shir haShirim (Song of Songs) with their sources- you can create your own recipe. I have also included the Ashkenazi standard.

I will post a different charoset recipe each week as we approach Pesach. If you want to share YOUR recipe please send it on. It would be lovely to find out what you do.

In the meantime, stay safe and good wishes to you , your family and your friends. This too will pass. Have a good week and a Shabbat Shalom. Laya

Ingredients for a Shir haShirim Charoset  (with sources from the original text. )

• APPLES 2:3  Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved  among the young men.
• 2:5  Feed me with dainties, refresh me with apples
• FIGS 2:13  The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their      fragrance.
• POMEGRANATE  4:13  Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates                           GRAPES 2:15  … our vineyards (grape vines) are in blossom.
• WALNUTS  6:11  I went down into the walnut grove…
• DATES 7:7    This thy stature is like to a palm-tree…
  ADDITION OF WINE 1:2   For thy love is better than wine.                                               SPICES 4: 13, 14  henna with spikenard plants,  Spikenard and saffron, calamus and  cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spice

Traditional Ashkenazi

• 3 medium apples- Canadians prefer macintosh (!) peeled, cored, and finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet red wine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon honey

Yemenite — food.com

• ¹⁄₂ cup slivered almonds
• ¹⁄₂ cup dried apricots
• ¹⁄₂ cup figs dried quartered
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons  finely grated lime or lemon rind
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 -4 tablespoons sweet white wine
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds – optional

PERSIAN CHAROSET- HALEK    food.com

• ¹⁄₂ cup dates
• ¹⁄₂ cup shelled pistachios
• ¹⁄₄ cup almonds (shelled)
• ¹⁄₄ cup raisins
• 1 each: apple, orange, banana-finely  chopped
• seeds from 1 pomegranate
• ¹⁄₃ cup sweet wine
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon black pepper