During the Seder meal held on Passover, a sweet paste made of fruit, nuts, and wine is served as integral part of the Seder plate to represent the mortar used by our enslaved ancestors in building the pyramids in Egypt. While the Ashkenazi or Eastern European Jewish style of charoset traditionally combines chopped apples, walnuts, and kosher wine into a salad-like mixture, the Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean and Judeo-Arabic communities of the Middle East will more often use a combination of dried fruit such as dates or raisins, to create a thick paste.

In our program, Sephardic and Middle Eastern food instructor Jennifer Abadi will give a talk accompanied by a slideshow discussing a little bit about the history of charoset and macaroons, and discuss the various types of charosets prepared in the Sephardic and Middle Eastern world. Following the talk she will demonstrate two different (nut-free) charoset recipes from her cookbook Too Good To Passover: Sephardic and Judeo-Arabic Menus and Memories from Africa, Asia, and Europe: • Syrian style charoset with dried apricots, lemon, and orange blossom water • Ethiopian style charoset with dried figs, dates, and fresh ginger. All attendees will be able to taste these two charosets that Jennifer has prepared. Signed copies of her cookbook Too Good To Passover will also be available at a discounted price of $25 each.