Charoset
{{Short description|Jewish ritual food eaten at the Passover seder}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Charoset
| image = File:Olve haroset.jpg
| alternate_name = duqqa, dukah, dukeh
| country = Land of Israel
| region = Jewish Diaspora, Ashkenaz, Sepharad, Israel
| creator =
| course = Sweet relish
| served =
| main_ingredient = Apples, pears, raisins, figs, orange juice, red wine, pine nuts and cinnamon
| variations = Dates, walnuts, sesame, wine vinegar, cinnamon, black pepper, marjoram
| calories =
| other =
}}
Image:Charoset&ingredients.jpg
{{Seder plate}}
File:Charoset served on Passover.jpg
Charoset{{efn|Also haroset, or charoises ({{langx|he|חֲרֽוֹסֶת|ḥəróseṯ}}, {{langx|yi|חרוסת|kheróyses}}).}} is a sweet, dark-colored mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder. According to the Talmud, its color and texture are meant to recall mortar (or mud used to make adobe bricks), which the Israelites used during their supposed enslavement in Ancient Egypt, as mentioned in Tractate Pesahim 116a of the Talmud. The word comes from the Hebrew word for clay ({{langx|he|חֶרֶס|ḥéres}}).{{Cite web |title=Seder Preparations - Jewish Tradition |url=https://yahadut.org/en/shabbat-and-festivals/the-seder/seder-preparations/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=yahadut.org |language=en}}
Charoset is one of the symbolic foods on the Passover Seder plate. After reciting the blessings, and eating first maror dipped in charoset and then a matzah "Hillel sandwich" (with two matzot) combining charoset and maror, people often eat the remainder spread on matzah.{{Cite web |title=03. The Seder Plate – Peninei Halakha |url=https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/04-16-03/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |language=en-US}}
History
Charoset is mentioned in the Mishna in connection with the items placed on the Passover table: "unleavened bread and lettuce and charoset". Some say it can be traced back to the custom of symposia in ancient Greece, where philosophical discussions were accompanied by drinking large quantities of wine and consuming foods dipped into mixtures of pounded nuts and spices.{{cite news | author=Joan Alpert | url=http://www.momentmag.com/the-sweet-story-of-charoset/ | title=The sweet story of Charoset | publisher=Moment | date=2013-03-25}}
Variations
There are many recipes for charoset. Many include at least some of the fruits and spices mentioned in the Song of Songs: apples [http://bible.cc/songs/2-3.htm 2-3], figs [http://bible.cc/songs/2-13.htm 2-13], pomegranates [http://bible.cc/songs/4-3.htm 4-3], grapes [http://bible.cc/songs/2-15.htm 2-15], walnuts [http://bible.cc/songs/6-11.htm 6-11], dates [http://bible.cc/songs/7-7.htm 7-7] with the addition of wine [http://bible.cc/songs/1-2.htm 1-2], saffron [http://bible.cc/songs/4-14.htm 4-14] and cinnamon [http://bible.cc/songs/4-14.htm 4-14].{{cite news | author=Rabbi Arthur Waskow | url=http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2009/04/08/passovers-r-rated-condiment/8175 | title=Passover's R-Rated Condiment | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=2009-04-08}} According to Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus "the influence of Persian culinary preferences on Jews living in the medieval Islamic empires probably reinforced this 'Song of Songs' flavor profile.{{cite book |last1=Brumberg-Kraus |first1=Jonathan |title=Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash |date=29 October 2018 |publisher=Lexington Books |page=75 |isbn=9781498579070 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5356DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |access-date=10 September 2021}}
The spices used vary among cultures; Yemenites use cloves and pepper, while American Jews typically use cinnamon. In Italy, Venetian Jews have been known to add chestnuts and pine nuts. Halek is a variation made by Persian Jews using dates instead of apples.{{cite news |last=Nathan |first=Joan |title=Retracing Jewish Steps, Through Haroseth |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/16/garden/retracing-jewish-steps-through-haroseth.html |date=April 16, 1997}} Locally grown blueberries are added to the traditional recipe in Maine.{{cite news |title=For Passover, a haroset that's made in Maine |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2018/03/28/for-passover-a-haroset-thats-made-in-maine/ |date=March 28, 2018}}
=Sephardi traditions=
Sephardi charoset is a paste made of raisins, figs and dates.{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |date=2022-04-05 |title=It's almost Passover, do you have your charoset recipe yet? We've got you covered! |url=https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/date-charoset-recipe/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=Taste of Home |language=en-US}}
Egyptian Jews make it from dates, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, and sweet wine.{{Cite web |last=Ducky |title=Egyptian Charoset Recipe - Healthy.Food.com |url=https://www.food.com/recipe/egyptian-charoset-87863 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=www.food.com |language=en}}
Greek and Turkish Jews use apples, dates, chopped almonds, and wine. Italian Jews add chestnuts.
Suriname Jews add coconut.
Iraqi Jews make it from a mixture of dates and nuts.
Moroccan Jews use a mixture consisting of walnuts, almonds, dates, figs, dried apricots, pitted prunes, and sweet red Passover wine, with optional additions such as shelled pistachios or ground cinnamon. The ingredients are blended or ground together and shaped into one-inch balls.{{Cite book |last=Brumberg-Kraus |first=Jonathan D. |url=https://www.google.co.th/books/edition/Gastronomic_Judaism_as_Culinary_Midrash/5356DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=moroccan+charoset&pg=PA76&printsec=frontcover |title=Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash |date=2018-10-29 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-7907-0 |pages=76 |language=en}}
=Yemenite tradition=
Yihye Bashiri (17th century) described the manner in which the charoset was made in Yemen:
They take figs or raisins or dates, and pound them into the consistency of dough. They then put vinegar thereto, and add spices. Some there are who put ground sesame seeds into this admixture. On the night of the Passover, a person is required to put therein whole spices that have not been ground; either two or three seeds of valerian (Arabic: sunbul), or sprigs of marjoram [alternatively: wild thyme ] (Arabic: za'tar), or savory (Arabic: hasha), or things similar to them, so that it will resemble straw in mortar—in remembrance of that thing by which our fathers were enslaved in Egypt, seeing that it is like unto bricks and straw.Yosef Hubara (ed.), Sefer Ha-Tiklāl (Tiklāl Qadmonim), Jerusalem 1964
In Yemenite Jewish tradition, the charoset is also called dukeh ({{Langx|he|דוכה}}), a name also referred to as such in the Jerusalem Talmud.cf. Leiden Manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud, on Pesahim 10:3. The text there says, with a play on words: “The members of Isse's household would say in the name of Isse: Why is it called dūkeh? It is because she pounds (Heb. dakhah) [the spiced ingredients] with him.”
=[[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] traditions=
Not all Jews use the term charoset. Some of the Jews of the Middle East instead use the term "halegh". The origin of 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 Iran have a tradition of including 40 different ingredients in the halegh. The number 40 signifies the 40 years of wandering in the desert.
=Ashkenazi traditions=
Modern variations
In 2015 Ben & Jerry's Charoset ice cream became widely available in Israel and was covered in several major news outlets.{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ben-jerrys-haroset-flavored-ice-cream/|title=Ben & Jerry's Haroset Flavored Ice Cream|website=The Times of Israel|access-date=2016-04-12}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/01/charoset-ben-and-jerrys-is-the-real-deal_n_6977854.html|title=Ben And Jerry's Sells Charoset-Flavored Ice Cream Just In Time For Passover|website=The Huffington Post|date=April 2015 |access-date=2016-04-12}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-03-31/forget-cherry-garcia-how-about-ben-and-jerrys-passover-ice-cream|title=Forget Cherry Garcia. How about Ben and Jerry's Passover ice cream?|website=Public Radio International|language=en-US|access-date=2016-04-12}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Not-Just-News/Ben-and-Jerrys-takes-a-turn-on-the-Seder-plate-this-Passover-395183|title=Charoset Ben & Jerry's: Who's brave enough to try?|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|access-date=2016-04-12}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.648748|title=Ben & Jerry's Charoset Flavor and 10 More Passover Ice Cream Ideas|last=JTA|date=2015-03-25|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en|access-date=2016-04-12}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.bustle.com/articles/71377-charoset-flavored-ben-and-jerrys-ice-cream-exists-in-israel-and-yes-its-kosher-for-passover|title=Charoset-flavored Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Exists in Israel, and Yes its Kosher for Passover|website=www.bustle.com|date=23 March 2015 |access-date=2016-04-12}}
Leftovers
Leftover charoset is commonly eaten with matzah, but it can also be used as a filling for hand pies.{{cite web |title=Recipe: Haroset Hand Pies |url=https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/recipe-haroset-hand-pies |website=KCRW |date=12 April 2012 |access-date=10 September 2021}}
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/recipes-pesach/charoset-charoses.html A Quick Charoset FAQ (includes charoset recipes)]
- [http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/2742171/jewish/4-Simple-Charoset-Recipes.htm 4 Simple Charoset Recipes]
{{Passover Footer}}
{{Salads}}