Cooking the Chronicle – Apr 11

This week’s recipe (“Medjool date charoset,” Apr 11) is a really really strong case for why the Ashkenazim should retire the chopped up wine and apple charoset. Our wimpy watery charoset does not, in fact, resemble the mortar that any Jewish slave would use, and after trying Jessica Grann’s recipe, I am fully converted to the superiority of non-Ashkenazi charoset.

(Pausing here to plug the stand-up bits from comedian Modi on the difference between Sephardim and Ashkenazim.They’re hilarious, please watch.)

Unfortunately, this was a recipe my toddler had absolutely no interest in helping with, though she happily enjoyed eating it at the seder and enjoying the leftovers with breakfast the following days.

This was a super easy recipe to make for an outstanding result. I loved the addition of orange juice to the dates—it brightened the charoset up! Logically, it also makes more sense! This is what mortar seems like it should be. I was tempted to cut apples up into larger squares and rectangles to let the kids at the seder “build” structures using the date charoset as the glue.

This recipe makes a ton of charoset, and I find that most people at the seder don’t eat more than a few tablespoons. So if you’re left with extra, like we were, I want to share a recipe that my good friend Natasha introduced me to. Instagram chef turned cookbook author, Chanie Apfelbaum, has a recipe for charoset bars in her cookbook, Totally Kosher. Just skip the charoset filling she includes and use your leftovers. These were wonderful and a highlight of Pesach desserts.

All in all, wonderful! Consider me a date-based charoset convert!