The chumus of Pesach

{tap tap tap}

Is this thing on?

{clears throat nervously}

Hi. My name is Mrs. S., and I’m a… charoset snob.

{becomes somewhat defensive}

But it’s not my fault.

You can blame my parents. Or even my grandparents a”h before them. Because our inordinate pride in our charoset apparently goes way back.

Actually, I should explain that it’s not that our charoset recipe is necessarily superior to all the other ones out there. (Although it IS pretty good. See recipe below.)

No, the thing that makes us look down our family’s collective nose is the sheer quantity of our charoset.

You see, we literally make it by the large bowlful.

That way, after using the charoset to satisfy the family’s Maror and Korech needs, there’s still more than enough left to spread on matzah during Shulchan Orech.

In fact, we make so much that we nosh on matzah with charoset all week long. It’s great for chol hamo’ed lunches, for seudah shlishit, etc.

In other words, charoset is the Pesach equivalent of… chumus!

Here, then, is our family’s recipe. (Special thanks to my mother, who figured out how to replace the traditional “as much as it takes” with precise amounts…. :-) )

Ashkenazi Charoset

Notes

1. This is actually half the recipe. (Feel free to double it.)
2. I use a food processor, but obviously, one could do it all by hand.

Ingredients

• 100 grams ground almonds
• 100 grams ground walnuts
• 100 grams dates plus another 3-4 dates for added sweetness - pitted and chopped
• 2 (or more) large apples – peeled, cored and finely shredded
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Less than ¼ tsp ginger
• Sweet red wine

Directions

Combine the first six ingredients. Add wine slowly, until desired taste, color, and texture are achieved.

!בתאבון