New Yorkers get creative with their Seder plates for Passover
NEW YORK -- The first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover is Wednesday. The highlight is the Seder, a festive meal that retells the story of the Jewish people's exodus from slavery in Egypt.
Every Passover, Jews gather around the Seder plate, referencing items like bitter herbs to tell the ancient story of the Israelites' liberation from slavery in Egypt. Matzo, unleavened bread, is how it's embodied.
"As we left Egypt, the dough, the story says, was placed on our backs and it baked in the sun," saiad Rabbi Menachem Creditor, scholar in residence at the UJA-Federation of New York. "It reminds us that we were too rushed to make bread that would bake fully."
Traditionally, there are four cups of wine at the Seder table, representing the redemption of the Jews from slavery.
Some people get creative. This year, there is even peach and mango Moscato, and added to the Seder plate in the '80s, says the rabbi, is an orange, representing "the inclusion of gay and lesbian Jews in full Jewish life, which for a long time they were marginalized from."
Lisle Richards just converted to Judaism.
"I've celebrated Passover with my partner, my fiancé, for five years now," Richards said. "The Jewish religion centers holidays around food and family and community, which I think is a really beautiful expression of culture."
Richards, the owner of Isle of Us café on the Upper East Side, and his executive chef, Matt Aita, take pride in their special matzo ball soup.
"What's more Passover than matzo ball soup?" Richards said.
In the kitchen at Barbounia on Park Avenue South, Executive Chef Amitzur Mor creates entrees inspired by the Seder plate.
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He shows us his traditional lamb dish and Jerusalem Artichoke soup, as well as a grilled fish patty which he calls "grilled gefilte fish."
The menu will also feature a moist layer cake of matzo meal with hazelnut mousse.
"To think that it was just achieved with matzo meal it's a miracle," says Mor. "The whole goal of Passover is that you pass it for the next generation."
For the entire week, Jews observing the holiday will only consume items with unleavened ingredients. That's why there are some items that are unique and kosher for Passover, like grain-free tortilla chips, chocolate nut brownie macaroons and veggie croutons.
The rabbi says Passover is about remembering that freedom is a process, and it inspires people of all backgrounds to cherish the ability to create a meaningful life.
Because of the rise in antisemitism, the nonprofit group Jew Belong is proposing families add a strong black coffee to the Seder plate this year; it says the cup symbolizes "waking up" to hate and educating the public about it.
