Keeping kosher for Passover can feel like an elaborate mental puzzle rather than a religious observance. No bread (except theunleavened kind). No grains (except quinoa). No legumes (exceptlegumes are now permitted, according to some Jewish authorities).
I always start out with the best of intentions, inspired by theFirst Seder. And then theSecond Sederkeeps me going through Day 2 of the eight-day holiday. And then it's back to my daily routine, and I'm popping a piece of avocado toast into my mouth before I'm even fully conscious of the transgression.
Then I vow to stick to my guns for the rest of the holiday. No granola for breakfast. No sandwiches for lunch. No pasta even though I come home ravenous for a fast dinner. I usually last under this onslaught until about Day 4 1/2, and then buckle. And then I go into a shame spiral, kicking myself for being unable to give up a few foods for barely over a week.
Until now.
Inspired by Epi editor David Tamarkin's#Cook90 Challenge, I'm making a public promise to go on a #Passover24 challenge: eight days of kosher-for-Passover eating. I'll be sharing what I'm cooking and eating on Epi's instagram (and mine), and always looking for new ideas, so if you're in the same boat I am, tag your Instagrams with @epicurious and #Passover24 so we all get some new ideas!
I knew I needed some expert help, so I called on one of the best Jewish cooks I know, Leah Koenig, author ofModern Jewish Cooking.Apparently my post-Seder delinquency isn't at all unusual. "It’s something that I think about a lot, because people focus all their energies on making one or two killer seders, and then the leftovers die away," Koenig says.
One of my mistakes? Obsessing about what Ican'teat during Passover. "Change the mindset from what you can’t have to what youcanhave," Koenig says. "I pretend I’m paleo for the week. So that means I can have meat and fish and vegetables. It can even be a bit of a spring cleanse."
And that's what I'm hoping to get out of this experiment: Not just a successful achievement of a goal, but the discovery of some new ways to cook in the bargain. Over the next eight days, I'm hoping to:
Break my reliance on toast in the morning."Breakfast is the real hurdle, since people eat toast and cereal," says Koenig. "I like to make a batch of matzogranola[using matzo farfel instead of oats]. It’s good enough that I really don’t miss cereal."
Find new ways to eat matzo brei."I lovematzo brei, and I have a "50 shades of matzo brei" mentality," says Koenig. "I like to sauté mushrooms and leeks and fold it in." Inspired by Koenig, I'm thinking about trying thissmoked salmon–topped versionmade with green garlic.
Start bringing my lunch to work.I can't rely on my old standby, the Condé Nast cafeteria, for my lunch—it's a Passover minefield up there. "Lunch is hard. I like to make amatzo lasagnafor lunch. It reheats really well," says Koenig.
Skip all the pasta.Like bread, pasta is verboten during Passover. Wouldn't it feel great if Iswapped it out for quinoainstead? "It was a huge boon to the Ashkenazi community that quinoa was accepted as kosher for Passover. I like to get a piece of fish and roast it with aquinoa tabboulehand a roasted vegetable on the side," Koenig says.
和我准备做饭# Passover24吗?发现一切edible and Passover-themed right here:
