You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.
During Passover, the absence of leaveners forces many of us to get creative with our matzoh. It becomes balls, or brei, or the base of a PB&J. Instead of resenting matzoh's (strangely satisfying) blandness, we like to think of it as a blank canvas, pushing us to try new things. Which leads us to this week's question:
What's your favorite way to eat matzoh?
Are you (like us) a brei fanatic? A soup purist? Or do you go crazy with your toppings?
Kenzi: Brei! All the way. That stuff is incredible.
Marian: PB&J for breakfast, brei for dinner.
Merrill: Straight up, with a thin layer of butter and a sprinkle of salt.
Amanda: With butter and coarse salt!
Merrill: More proof that Amanda and I are actually the same person!
Brette: Broken up into little pieces and made soggy in chicken soup.
Sarah: Covered in caramel and chocolate, of course.
Will: 50/50 split between Matzoh Brei and chopped liver.
Maddy: PB&J all the way.
Jason: Matzoh Ball Soup!
Bryce: I'm on the butter and salt train, too.
Christina: Ditto!
Michael: Matzoh pizza was a childhood staple. Brei is best; I like it with caramelized onions for dinner and maple syrup for breakfast. Kugel's great too.
Lauren: Savory kugel all the way.
Stephanie: Matzoh brei! Ever since I tested it, I've been eating it almost everyday.
How do you take your matzoh? Tell us in the comments!
Written by: Marian Bull
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9 Comments
Definitely in the butter and salt camp. A favorite since childhood is to then add very thin slices of cheddar or havarti or other good slicing cheese. Top with thin slices of ripe tomato. Pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds - or in a hot oven or toaster oven. It's hot, crisp, gooey, tangy. Perfect.
Interestingly, many observant Jews don't allow their matzo to become wet during Passover, even leaning away from the table so that no crumbs come in contact with the food and wine. So no matzo balls, kugel, or Passover spongecake at the seder and no matzo brei for breakfast the next day. It's taken some getting used to, as my closest friend is Hasidic and I always am a guest at her family seders. But we are obligated to eat so much matzo during the ritual part of the dinner that I'm just as happy stop there!
A lovely way to make matzo balls is to start with regular matzos and crush them up. The texture is irregular and the taste is much more interesting as well.
With Breakstones sweet whipped butter for b'fast.
And for the kids, with a shmear of Temp-tee.
Brei, cooked in butter, with a drizzle of honey or a smear of jam.
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