Charosset

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Ashkenazi charosset with ingredients

Charosset ( Hebrew חֲרֽוֹסֶת Harosheth , Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation charaussess, charojssess, Yiddish pronunciation charojssess or chrojssess ), a fruit pulp, part of the traditional Seder , the Jewish festival of Passover begins. Charosset is the only component of the Seder meal in modern preparations that has a sweet taste. With the Ashkenazim it is a mixture predominantly of grated apples and nuts or almonds , which is made thin with sweet red wine and seasoned with cinnamon . Occasionally, raisins are used. The traditional charosset of the Sephardim is based on dates instead of apples.

With its color and consistency, Charosset is reminiscent of the clay that the Israelites in Egypt used to make bricks. The book of Songs of Solomon ( Shir haShirim ) is read on the feast of Passover. It mentions various fruits and spices, which therefore, interpreted allegorically, became ingredients for Charosset.

history

Embamma in the ancient kitchen

Although the symbolism of the charosset was richly developed later, it was probably a normal part of the menu in ancient times; Apples were a typical dessert in Rome. In contrast to today, the apples were sour, not sweet, and a fruit puree prepared with them was therefore also sour.

In Apicius' cookbook there is a remark that lettuce and endive should be dipped in a sauce called embamma (Latin, loan word from ancient Greek ἔμβαμμα émbamma ) and are therefore more digestible. This has an exact correspondence in the Babylonian Talmud , according to which lettuce, one of the foods at the Seder meal, is made digestible by dipping it in charosset. Charosset thus corresponds to the ancient embamma , according to Susan Weingarten. This could be the reason that Charosset was added to the dishes of the Seder meal afterwards.

Mishnah and Talmud

The earliest mention of Charosset, "fruit pulp", is found in the Mishnah . In connection with this, the minimum requirements for a Seder meal are discussed, i.e. what even the poorest should have available that evening:

“Unleavened bread, lettuce and fruit puree and two cooked dishes are brought in before him, although fruit puree is not a command. Rabbi Elʿazar bar Ṣaḏoḳ says: [It is] a commandment. But at the time of the temple the Passover lamb itself was brought in before him. "

- Mishnah : Pesachim X, 3

By attributing Rabbi Elʿazar bar Ṣaḏo to the opinion that Charosset is a mandatory part of the Seder meal, this food is also located in the time of the Second Temple (before 70 AD), because according to tradition, Elʿazar bar Ṣaḏoḳ lived as a spice dealer in at that time Jerusalem, so professionally had to do with the ingredients for Charosset. In accordance with ancient table manners, bread or lettuce could be dipped into the fruit pulp; The Mishnah says nothing about the recipe for Charosset.

The Jerusalem Talmud described Charosset in the 5th century AD as something pounded and discussed the consistency of the mush: should it be reminiscent of the clay from which the Israelites had to make bricks in Egyptian slavery, and should it be relatively solid? Or should it be thick and reminiscent of the blood of the Passover lamb that was painted on the doors on the night of the move? The symbolic meaning of Charosset is also discussed in the Babylonian Talmud . According to Rabbi Jochanan, Charosset was reminiscent of the clay in the bricks, while Rabbi Levi made a reference to the apples in the Song of Songs, Hld 8,5  EU - an indication that apples were used for the preparation of the puree. Abbaje combined both traditions: Charosset should have a consistency like clay and taste sour like apples. But the rabbis joined Rabbi Jochanan; the apple motif took a back seat. Now it was also said that the spices in the jam are a reminder of the straw that had to be mixed into the clay to make bricks.

middle Ages

The first regional recipes for Charosset date from the early Middle Ages. Amram Gaon (d. 875), head of the Academy of Sura, wrote that the fruit puree is made from dates "in our part of the world". Saadja Gaon (882–942), head of the Pumbedita Academy, shared the recipe with the Jewish communities in Babylonia: dates, nuts and sesame seeds were made into a paste with vinegar.

Sephardic Traditions

In his youth Maimonides wrote a commentary on the Mishnah in which he also shared a recipe for charosset: figs or dates were soaked and boiled, then pounded into a pulp, kneaded with vinegar and seasoned with spikenard , thyme or hyssop . With hyssop, Maimonides introduced (without explaining this) an ingredient that appears in the story of the Exodus from Egypt; What is striking about his recipe is that it is a cooked dish. Years later, when he was already living in Egypt, Maimonides wrote down another recipe that clearly implemented the requirements of the Babylonian Talmud. The consistency, which was supposed to be reminiscent of clay, was important, regardless of whether dates, dried figs or raisins were made into pulp. Added vinegar resulted in a sweet and sour fruit pulp, unspecified spices in the pulp should remind of the straw.

Ashkenazi traditions

A recipe from the Jewish community of Rome dates back to the 13th century and may reflect the difficulty of getting fruit in Italy at the time of the Passover festival. The basis is “green stuff”, i.e. green vegetables or herbs. Tree blossoms are added, probably to refer to the Song of Songs symbolically, and a little clay or ground ceramic shards, which strongly accentuated the clay brick symbolism. The puree should be sour like apples, which does not necessarily mean that apples were needed to make it. (The custom of mixing ceramic flour with the charosset seems to have continued in many places without being mentioned in the sources and was fought against as a dangerous misunderstanding by rabbinical authorities of the 18th century.)

The standard commentary on the Mishnah was written by Obadja Bertinoro , who came from Italy and spent the end of his life in Jerusalem. His charosset consists of figs, hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds and any fruit. These ingredients were pounded into a paste with vinegar and sprinkled with cinnamon and calamus.

The local charosset recipe of the Jewish communities in Provence saw the 13th / 14th Century like this: Chestnuts were boiled and pounded with the addition of almonds and walnuts. Dried figs, raisins and dates were made into a pulp. Sour apples were chopped into pulp and mixed with the chestnut-nut pulp and the fig-raisin-date mass with the addition of wine vinegar. Various spices have been suggested, including ginger and cloves.

The Tosafists came up with a new idea that was important for the further development of the recipe: the fruits and spices mentioned in the Song of Songs and symbolically related to Israel by the Bible commentators should appear in the Charosset: apples, pomegranates, figs, dates and nuts. In the 15th century, however, it was common in German communities to use pears that are not mentioned in the Hohenlied.

Charosset in times of need

It is said from the American Civil War that a group of Jewish soldiers from the Union Army celebrated a Seder meal in Fayette, West Virginia. They had no ingredients for a fruit puree and placed a brick on the seder plate that represented the charosset.

In 1944, around 30 prisoners celebrated a Seder meal in a barrack of the National Socialist concentration camp Skarżysko-Kamienna , using the little available food instead of traditional food. Coffee served as a substitute for wine, and charosset was made from a potato and beet mixture.

Charosset today

symbolism

The apples are said to be reminiscent of apple trees under which - according to the Midrash - Jewish women secretly gave birth to their children in order to protect them from Egyptians. Red wine in the mixture symbolizes the blood of circumcision , the blood of the Passover offering and finally the blood of Jewish children who were murdered by Pharaoh.

Charosset generally symbolizes that life and death are inextricably linked, as well as hope and despair. Nothing sweet is sweet without end; it also contains bitterness. On Passover this is expressed by the other Seder dishes and represented by the assurance of future sweets by means of a charosset.

Recipe types

The diversity of the recipes can be assigned to two basic types: the apple-based fruit purée of the Ashkenazim and the date-based fruit purée of most Sephardic communities (Iraq, Iran, North Africa, Yemen). Regionally, Charosset is still prepared according to Saadja Gaon's recipe from the 10th century. Individual regions have their own special ingredient, for example pomegranates are typical of Persian charosset, and in Greece and Turkey raisins are the main ingredient. The Ashkenazi charosset, which is not very varied, is widespread in the United States and could develop into the standard charosset. An “ash kefardi” fruit purée containing apples and dates is sold in Israeli supermarkets.

Web links

Commons : Charosset  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Weinberg : Lexicon on the religious vocabulary and customs of German Jews. Edited by Walter Röll. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1994, p. 82.
  2. ↑ Jizchok Niborski, Schimen Neuberg: Werterbuch fun loschn-kojdesch-schtamike Werter in Yidish. Medem Library, Paris 1997, p. 100.
  3. ^ Joseph Tabory: The JPS Commentary on the Haggadah. Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary . The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 2008, p. 9.
  4. ↑ Amanda Borschel-Dan: It's meant to be sour! A food historian's quest for the most authentic haroset . In: The Times of Israel, April 18, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 116a.
  6. ^ Susan Weingarten: Crossing the Kosher Food Barrier: Outside Influences on Talmudic Food . In: Richard Hosking (Ed.): Authenticity in the Kitchen . Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2005. Prospect Books, Totnes 2006, pp. 390-399, here p. 394.
  7. ^ Dietrich Correns: The Mishnah translated into German, with an introduction and notes . Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005, p. 2005.
  8. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Harosheth , Totnes 2006, p 415th
  9. ↑ This verse is related to the Exodus from Egypt in the Midrash Exodus Rabba: the Israelites gave birth to their children under apple trees in the fields to protect them from Pharaoh's murderers.
  10. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Haroset , Totnes 2006, p. 415 f.
  11. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Harosheth , Totnes 2006, p 417 f.
  12. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Haroset , Totnes 2006, p. 418 f.
  13. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Haroset , Totnes 2006, p. 419 f.
  14. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Harosheth , Totnes 2006, p 423rd
  15. ↑ a b Susan Weingarten: Haroset , Totnes 2006, p. 420.
  16. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Haroset , Totnes 2006, pp. 421-423.
  17. ^ Michael Feldberg: Passover Seders During the Civil War .
  18. ↑ Thomas Rahe : "Hear Israel": Jewish religiosity in National Socialist concentration camps . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999, p. 154. ( digitized version )
  19. ↑ Susan Weingarten: Haroset , Totnes 2006, p. 423 f.