I didn’t learn much Hebrew in my Hebrew class today but I did learn about matzah brei. I’d never heard of this dish before but my Hebrew teacher told us about it while we were discussing Passover customs. She explained that matzah brei is a popular dish during Passover when observant Jews are not allowed to eat leavened bread. Essentially matzah brei is made by soaking matzot in water, crumbling them into a dish with eggs, mixing them all together and then frying in schmaltz (traditional), butter or other oil (but not corn oil!).
Directly after class today I went to the grocery store, adding matzah to my list. One corner of the store was relegated to various and sundry versions: classic matzah, egg matzah, whole wheat matzah, honey matzah – they even had chocolate-covered matzah. I chose the whole wheat version.
My research on the internet revealed scads of variations on the basic recipe. There are savory versions and sweet. One recipe called for adding slices of kosher beef salami. Another recommends adding apple and cinnamon. Still another uses asparagus and cheese. Aside from variations in ingredients, there are also variations in technique. Some people prefer to cook the matzah brei into a pancake similar to a frittata, while others prefer scrambling the ingredients.
I whipped up a batch of matzah brei and a salad for dinner tonight. I opted for the savory, srcambled version. Aside from eggs and matzot, I added onion and, since I didn’t have any kosher salami on hand, prosciutto. I knew it was something close to sacrilege (or maybe worse) to allow matzot to mingle with a pork product, but I couldn’t help myself. I wish I had taken a picture of the dish. It looked very similar to this version.
It was wonderful! B. loved it. I can’t wait to try making a sweet pancake version. And I’ll be sure to take a pic.
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