I have been scrubbing and cleaning, throwing out things from the refrigerator, covering the counters, dunking pots in boiling water, and putting away anything with yeast or flour, or oats, rye, spelt or barley in it. Those cupboards will be closed and locked or taped shut for the duration of Passover.
Pesach, the 8 days of matzah.
For those unfamiliar, matzah is an unleavened, flour and water cracker the size of a dinner plate.
Now there are people who will tell you that they LOVE matzah, and perhaps they do. I have no reason to doubt their word. But I am not one of them. Oh, I love the stuff you put ON the matzah. Cream cheese, applesauce, peanut butter, (we follow the Sephardic tradition), egg salad, tuna salad, chocolate spread, and butter with brown sugar and cinnamon. Those are lovely. But the matzah itself tastes like cardboard to me okay? I can't lie about it. But that’s the way it is.
I’m Jewish. It’s Pesach. It’s going to be matzah everywhere you look.
Now I will admit that the first bite of matzah at the seder (passover meal) is sort of an austere and novel taste. After all it has been a year since I have eaten it. And in the context of the ritual meal it is a surprisingly spiritual experience, that first bite. But after that, one is very thankful to know that matzah ball soup is coming to the rescue soon.
And if you have a taste for it, there is the consolation of the wine, lots of cups of wine that accompany the matzah. And depending on how enthusiastic you are about wine, you have a pretty good excuse to consume some serious quantities.
Anyway, the first bite is still a little ways off, and the kitchen is now prepared for Pesach, but we don’t eat matzah until Wednesday evening.
So it’s a bread and matzah free zone right now. I have NO idea what to make for dinner tonight. Broccoli, I will have broccoli. That ought to do it.
But I am finished with my preparations and it’s a good thing because I’m pooped! I NEED some matzah ball soup to revive me. But I will have to muddle through without it till the evening of Passover.