Passover Traditions, New And Old

The Jewish festival of Passover begins at sundown Monday with a feast that's as universal as it is unique to every family and community that sets out matzah and horseradish. We explore modern and traditional approaches to the Passover seder, whether you're cooking at home or getting some help from a local restaurant or delicatessen.

Grandma/Bubbe Ethel’s Matzoh Balls Recipe

Recipe courtesy Esther Safran Foer, executive director and CEO at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue

My mother makes the matzoh balls for our seders. She even made matzoh balls in a demo on Martha Stewart’s TV Show in 2012. When her grandson Jonathan created and edited the New American Hagaddah last year and was invited on the show to talk and cook, he said he wanted to bring his grandmother. Everyone had a great time.

Special foods connect us to tradition and to the people we love. They create a sense of home and family that transcends time and place. Even though we no longer do chicken soup –- we’re vegetarians –- we’ve found new creative soups and always have Grandma Ethel’s matzoh balls.

Ingredients
1 cup matzoh meal (or more as needed)
1/4 cup oil
4 large eggs
1/2 cup plain seltzer water
1 tsp salt
dash pepper

Directions
Beat eggs, oil, salt and pepper.
Add water, matzoh meal.
Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Form into balls (put water on your hands to help form balls).
Drop into salted boiling water.
Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.

Secret Tip
These can be frozen and made ahead. Put foil or wax paper on cookie sheet. After matzo balls are made put them on sheet and put them in freezer. After they're frozen, put them in plastic bags. They will keep for up to a month.