The Holiday Post - Pesach in Tucson

Tucson, the site of this year's Pesach

If you read this blog much you have most likely ascertained AlphaChef (AC) is Jewish. He comes from a predominantly East Coast based family that, sorry guys, meet every stereotype. They are passionate, political, blunt, opinionated and loud. Friends of myself and the AC may recognize this as a description of us as a couple, so take that image and multiply it by 17, I'm not kidding.

My stock is German Catholic immigrants who settled in Minnesota. We also meet those stereotypes. Somewhat hesitant, polite, quiet, kind, well-meaning and if you disagree, do so quietly so as not to rock the boat. In my family I am the excessively opinionated, passionate, political, loud one that I know they sometimes secretly wish would just be quiet and go with the flow (during my adolescence, change the "sometimes" to "always" and the "secretly" to "openly").

My first introduction to AC's family, in the middle of one of my more rebellious periods, was met with both culture shock and joy that I was entering into a family that seemed much more like me. And yet I was very overwhelmed. Imagine me, who dominates and fights for the last word in most family discussions (mostly because I go on longer than anyone else can tolerate), transported into a place in which I couldn't even get a word in edgewise during group rants. Really. Not an exaggeration. I was deliriously proud if I got a sentence in before the topic changed. This lasted for about the first five years. In this family I was the quiet, sweet, empathetic, Midwestern girl, who finally reigned in the bachelor tendencies of their brother-uncle-cousin-nephew whom they welcomed with amazingly open arms. I'm recovering from that reputation now, don't worry. The other glorious thing about this family is their passion for cooking, food and wine. In this way I fit right in.

One thing I love about AC's family is their tradition of gathering for Pesach (Passover). The Pesach holiday is my favorite of their family gatherings, because it is one this family celebrates more traditionally than they do anything else, which probably appeals to the remnants of Catholicism in me. Due to a wide range of cities in which the families now reside, each year we choose a somewhat central location to gather. This year we were in Tucson, Arizona. And as they say, maybe next year in Israel. But as the AC points out, since they have a special covenant with God that allows them to move Pesach to a date that works with everyone's schedules, Tucson acts a really good substitute. Its dry, hot and has a bonus: good Mexican tortillas.

Another great part about this family is the equitable manner in which meals come together. You will not see the women gathered in the kitchen all day preparing while the men are golfing or watching sports. No, each person or couple is responsible for one part of the meal. Often your reputation proceeds you and you are assigned what you've proven is your strength. The meal always has the same components. The day of the meal is a flurry of shopping and cooking, working around people chatting in the kitchen who will 'hoover' your ingredients if you're not assembling your dish fast enough. The pace is both comfortable and harried, depending on who you are (the one chatting vs. the one trying to cook). Cooking is timed on availability of the kitchen, oven temperature and time requirements and how well you have planned ahead. Miraculously, it always comes together into a complete, amazing meal.

We start with a fairly traditional Seder service, eat dinner and then finish the Seder. The meal is the best part- well maybe not, did I mention the ritual consists of the required consumption of four glasses of wine? Uh-huh.

To the left you'll see the set-up. The book on the plate is the Haggadah. This is the traditional Seder service. This particular one has been in the family since the 1970's even though its titled The New Model Seder. They are a relic in themselves, complete with notations throughout the years. Food is used symbolically in the Seder.




The Seder Plate. Each part of the Seder plate has a traditional meaning and part in the service.

• Maror and Chazeret: Two types of bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Ancient Egypt. For maror, many people use freshly grated horseradish or whole horseradish root. Chazeret is typically romaine lettuce, whose roots are bitter-tasting.
• Charoset: A sweet, brown, pebbly paste of fruits and nuts, representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt.
• Karpas: parsley which is dipped into salt water (Ashkenazi custom) at the beginning of the Seder.
• Zeroa: A roasted lamb bone, symbolizing the Pesach sacrifice, which was a lamb offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and was then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.
• Beitzah: A roasted egg, symbolizing the festival sacrifice that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and was then eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.

This year an orange was also added to our Seder plate. The explanation was that a rabbi once said, in opposition to women becoming rabbis, that women will become rabbis when there is an orange on the Seder plate (sort of a "when pig's fly" statement).  According to Wikipedia, "Some Jews include an orange on the seder plate, representing fruitfulness when all marginalized peoples are included, particularly women and gay people." Sounds good to me.

Chicken soup with matzoh balls. This is a collaboration. AC's aunt makes the chicken soup every year, a true labor of love. His brother's family make the so-light-they-melt-in-your-mouth matzoh balls for the soup. They have perfected the technique and no one does it better. Thankfully they have passed the secrets onto their children and this year our nephew demonstrated his skills. Insurance? Division of labor? Maybe a bit of both.



Gelfilte fish. Ahh, gefilte fish. Ever heard of lutefisk? This is the Jewish equivalent of lutefisk. It had to have a purpose at some point, because it stuck as a tradition and we all eat it, every year, no matter what. No matter how bad it tastes. It's basically whitefish that has been boiled beyond recognition, processed and pressed into an oval shape. It tastes as you might expect and looks even worse. Overachievers might try to make this from scratch (you'd never be able to reside in the house afterwards though) but most people buy it in jars, packed in a gelatinous goo. Yup. And never buy the sweet style, its even more hideous. It is served on a leaf of lettuce, and here's what makes it palatable, along with hot horseradish. AC says it's sole purpose is as a vehicle for horseradish, and in that light, it's survivable.  Without the horseradish, the AC says he'd run out to the middle of the desert and hope he didn't survive the forty days and nights. The first Pesach I attended, I was assigned the serving and preparation of this part of the meal. It is not, I repeat, not a good idea to have the Pesach virgin plate up the gefilte fish. It took about five years of earnestly attempting to eat the stuff before I could eat a whole piece, now it just wouldn't be Pesach without it.   

Beef Brisket. AC's aunt and uncle have perfected the brisket, or shall I say, his aunt has perfected the brisket and how to reign in her lovely husband's heavy-hand with the spices (salt!), combining for an always tender, full-flavored, lovely brisket. The importance of this cannot be overstated, as you will be eating the brisket as left-overs for a few days at least. The perfectly done brisket makes amazing hash and sandwiches.

Kugel. According to Wikipedia, is a baked Ashkenazi Jewish pudding or casserole, similar to a pie, most commonly made from egg noodles or potatoes, though at times made of zucchini, apples, spinach, broccoli, cranberry, sweet potato or anything the AC throws in. It is usually served as a side dish.We are assigned the kugel, which resembles a casserole traditionally done with noodles, but since noodles aren't kosher for passover, there are a wide range of variations. One year a woman I worked with brought a traditional noodle kugel to a potluck. I loved it and learned how to make a version for AC, just like his mother used to make. Oh, the tears. I brought it to Thanksgiving one year and we have been assigned kugel ever since. Of course, my kugel was made with noodles, so we reinvent one for Pesach every year. If we were smart we'd find a Pesach recipe that we like and re-do it, but we're not that smart and are still surprised every year we are assigned to make it. We go to whatever Jewish cookbook is in the house, look up a recipe and then change it. This year was not our shining moment. It tasted fine, but not great. AC called them "kugel pucks". And it was not photogenic (this took about 10 shots to get one I could use). We made it out of one large, grated sweet potato, two grated granny smith apples, four grated carrots, diced dried cherries, mixed with spices (cinnamon, ginger, salt, cayenne), a cup of matzoh meal, some baking soda (about a tsp) and a cup of melted butter. Mixed up and placed into muffin tins, baked, covered on 400* for about 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 more. Made excellent breakfast muffins, but so-so kugel. 

Vegetables. Three of AC's cousins were present this year. Cousin #1 and #2 (brothers) made asparagus and green beans. Both were very good. The green beans (pictured) were particularly good, served with a lemon garlic sauce and sliced almonds. They were much more photogenic, which for blogging purposes, is of much value.




Charoset. AC's sister does the Charoset, she has gotten the privilege due to her knowledge and excellent execution of two versions. A traditional Ashkenazi which is apples, cinnamon, nuts and wine and a Sephardic recipe with apples, dried fruits, cayenne and pistachios, which is my favorite.

Coconut macaroons. Finally, Cousin #3 handles dessert, her Pesach specialty is coconut macaroons. Always done perfectly, she'll make simple coconut and then chocolate covered. Actually, all her deserts are excellent, Pesach or not.

After the meal, we finish the Seder. The children run around trying to find hidden Matzoh and the Had gadya competition commences. Had gadya or "our little goat" is a song traditionally sung on Passover. In this family, and I'm assuming, others, Had gadya is a competition, in which each competitor attempts to say the entire Had gadya song with just one breath.  AC has memories of wanting to win, until he won and then it was "okay, so what?" And now he keeps trying to get out of the competition and can't. Sort of like cooking the kugel. It's fun. I've never done it. But very proud as AC is quite good at this. I think he won the first year I witnessed it. Probably why we're still together. That and his family.