Passover!

I'm Jewish. But I'm also an atheist. For me, being Jewish is about identity, family and culture. Jewish festivals are so much fun and the rare occasions during the year when all of my mum's family are together (my dad isn't Jewish).
 It was Passover/Pesach recently and so our family went to Birmingham, where my grandparents live, and my cousins came too. Now, most Jewish festivals involve a lot of eating and also some special, interesting foods that you'd only eat during that festival and Passover is no exception. Here are some of the things you eat at Passover:

• Parsley in salt water
• Boiled egg in salt water
• Matzah (flat bread)
• Bitter herbs (raw  horse radish)
• Charoset (appley, nutty, winey mix)
• Kiddish wine

Now, I love the egg in salt water but the parsley isn't great. The matzah is great especially with the charoset which is gorgeous. Seriously, try it. SO GOOD! The horse radish, however, is the part of Passover that I always dread. You have to eat the bitter herbs raw because it's supposed to make you feel pain like the Jewish slaves did all those years ago. And boy does horse radish hurt. I have no idea how to describe it, it's spicy, bitter, sour and a bunch of other stuff all at once. My mum says she likes the horse radish because she's used to it from eating it every Pesach for her whole life. I just think she's crazy. 

 All of this food is eaten during the Seder (service) but then we also have a HUGE meal, prepared by my grandma with love. The meal included jacket potatoes, salmon, chicken, coleslaw, homemade mayonnaise, salads, vegetables and probably more stuff that I can't remember. Oh and don't forget the pudding afterwards. Basically, we eat A LOT of food. 

 I'd never done this before but this year (because I'm learning to cook and what not) I offered to help cook. Most stuff was already done, but the salmon still needed chopping so that was my job. Salmon is a fish I do like but any fish raw is pretty gross. I really struggled cutting it, there were giant bones and the sound of the knife sawing through them was disgusting/creepy/puke inducing. I made it to the end though, smeared the fish in some buttery, garlicky paste and then bang in the oven. I was very proud of myself.

Here's my video of Passover with my family:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR3vQz7ucPU

This isn't the way all Jewish families celebrate Passover but it's my family's interpretation of the Seder. I don't believe there's a right way or a wrong way. It's just all about tradition. 

 

Happy Belated Passover!

Hannah x