As the observance of Passover rapidly approaches, culinary professionals across the globe, including numerous staff members at Bon Appétit, are preparing for the Seder meal, a cornerstone of the holiday. This year, their tables will feature a compelling blend of time-honored family recipes and contemporary culinary interpretations, reflecting the dynamic nature of Jewish cuisine. The discussions among the staff highlight key decisions for the Seder plate, from the texture of matzo balls—dense or fluffy—to the choice of main protein, whether classic chicken, rich brisket, or innovative meatballs. These insights offer not only a glimpse into personal traditions but also broader trends in holiday cooking, where heritage meets modern palates.
The Historical and Culinary Significance of Passover
Passover, or Pesach, is one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, an event chronicled in the biblical Book of Exodus. The holiday spans seven or eight days, beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, typically in late March or April. The central ritual of Passover is the Seder, a festive meal replete with symbolic foods and prayers, guided by the Haggadah, a text that recounts the Exodus story.
At the heart of Passover is the commandment to refrain from eating chametz—leavened grain products—as a reminder of the Israelites’ hasty departure from Egypt, which left no time for their bread to rise. Instead, matzo, unleavened flatbread, is consumed throughout the holiday. The Seder plate itself is a visual narrative of the Exodus, featuring maror (bitter herbs) symbolizing the bitterness of slavery, charoset (a sweet paste) representing the mortar used by the slaves, karpas (a green vegetable, often parsley) dipped in salt water to signify tears and spring, zeroa (a roasted shank bone) recalling the Paschal lamb sacrifice, and beitzah (a roasted egg) symbolizing sacrifice and renewal. Each element serves as a tangible link to a profound historical narrative, making the Seder an educational and commemorative experience as much as a culinary one.
The culinary landscape of Passover has evolved over millennia, shaped by geographical diaspora and cultural exchange. Ashkenazi Jews, originating from Eastern and Central Europe, developed distinct dishes like matzo ball soup and gefilte fish, while Sephardic Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and the Middle East often incorporate rice, legumes (which some Ashkenazi communities traditionally avoid during Passover), and different spice profiles into their Seder meals. This rich tapestry of culinary traditions continues to inspire home cooks and professional chefs alike.
Bon Appétit Staff: A Mosaic of Seder Traditions and Innovations
The Bon Appétit staff’s preparations for Passover illustrate this blend of enduring tradition and contemporary adaptation. Their contributions highlight how personal history and evolving tastes shape the Seder experience.
The Perennial Matzo Ball Debate and Broth Innovations:
The debate over the ideal matzo ball—light and fluffy or dense and hearty—is a perennial one in Jewish households. Rachel Tepper Paley, Bon Appétit’s site director, firmly aligns with the "light and airy" camp, a preference instilled by her mother. Her family’s method, strikingly similar to Molly Baz’s "No-Nonsense Matzo Balls," includes a crucial criterion: the balls must float throughout the cooking process. Any "sinkers," she notes, are deemed to suffer a "miserable, dense-center fate," an unacceptable outcome for the holiday. This focus on texture underscores the meticulous attention often paid to this foundational Seder dish.
While her mother expertly crafts the "unsinkable" matzo balls, Paley takes charge of the broth, a testament to collaborative family cooking. Her specialty is a unique spin on Andy Baraghani’s "Chicken Soup With Caramelized Ginger." Paley’s modifications include using a rotisserie chicken for efficiency, reserving the meat for later addition and bones for a rich broth. Critically, she triples the ginger, garlic, and sugar, imparting a "tonic-like quality" to the soup. This bold flavor profile, while requiring a strong affinity for ginger, exemplifies how traditional dishes can be invigorated with contemporary culinary trends and personal preferences, even within the confines of holiday cooking.
Main Courses: From Brisket to Bespoke Meatballs:
The main course often serves as the centerpiece of the Seder. For Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking, her sister steadfastly hosts Passover, often featuring traditional brisket or salmon, alongside matzo ball soup and zucchini kugel. Brisket, a slow-cooked cut of beef, is a Passover staple, celebrated for its tender texture and rich flavor, often braised for hours to achieve perfection. Its prominence reflects a long-standing tradition in Ashkenazi cuisine, symbolizing resilience and nourishment.
Emma Jacobson, contributing social media editor, shares that her mother approaches Passover with the intensity of a "Super Bowl" event, preparing everything from scratch, including "her famous brisket" and her grandmother’s cherished sweet-and-sour meatballs. This year, Jacobson is taking on the meatball duty, recreating the tangy sauce—a blend of tomato juice, brown sugar, and sauerkraut—and the meatballs themselves, made from ground beef, onion, eggs, and matzo meal. Poached until "glistening and fork-tender," these meatballs, served in a vintage silver soup tureen, evoke a strong sense of nostalgia and familial connection. This particular recipe highlights the enduring appeal of Eastern European Jewish comfort food, passed down through generations.
Moskowitz, despite her sister’s firm grip on Seder hosting, harbors aspirations to host her own Pesach meal, envisioning a "Roasted Salmon With Citrus Salsa Verde" as a potential star dish. This choice reflects a growing trend towards lighter, brighter flavors and ingredients, offering an alternative to heavier meat-centric meals while still maintaining a celebratory feel.
Creative Sides and Deconstructed Charoset:
Side dishes offer ample opportunity for culinary experimentation within the Passover framework. Nina Moskowitz’s journey with roasted carrots illustrates this evolution. After years of preparing standard roasted carrots and matzo bark, she ventured into "Maple-Harissa Glazed Carrots" last year. This year, her choice of "Shawarma-Spiced Carrots With Date and Herb Salad" from former BA staffer Zaynab Issa showcases a move towards global flavors, demonstrating how traditional vegetables can be transformed with aromatic spices, a testament to the increasing fusion of Middle Eastern and Jewish culinary traditions.
Rebecca Firkser, Test Kitchen editor, dedicates her Seder contributions to charoset, a dish steeped in symbolism. She appreciates both the chunky, apple-and-walnut Ashkenazi version and the smooth, date-and-mixed-nut Sephardic rendition. However, Firkser’s creativity shines in her reinterpretations. She transforms the apple version into a salad, with thinly sliced apples, toasted crushed walnuts, lemon juice, and salt, offering a lighter, more refined texture. Her date-based charoset takes on a sculptural quality, made stiff enough to be rolled into truffles, especially delightful when dipped in dark chocolate.
Most notably, Firkser challenges the very tradition of making charoset by opting for a "fruit and nut platter" inspired by the dish. This platter, laden with dates, dried apricots, apple wedges, grapes, walnuts, pistachios, alongside store-bought macaroons and jelly fruit slices (a nod to her grandparents’ holiday spread), represents a deconstructed, modern approach to a symbolic food. This innovation underscores a broader trend in contemporary cooking: honoring the spirit and components of a traditional dish while reimagining its presentation and form.
Desserts: The Sweet Endings of Tradition and Innovation:
No Seder is complete without desserts that satisfy the sweet tooth while adhering to Passover dietary laws. Abi Lieff, assistant to the editor in chief, emphasizes the indispensability of "Mama’s Matzo Bark," her mother’s adaptation of Bonnie Stern’s "Caramel Matzo Crunch." This easy-to-make treat, requiring only matzo, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips, creates "sweet, rich toffee-like bites" that are intensely satisfying. For Lieff, who lives far from home, making this dessert provides a comforting connection to her family. Its customizable nature—with additions like flaky salt, crushed hazelnuts, or rainbow sprinkles—reflects the desire for personalization in holiday treats. Matzo bark has become a widely popular Passover dessert, celebrated for its simplicity and addictive quality, offering a creative use for matzo beyond its ritual consumption.
Rebecca Firkser’s inclusion of store-bought macaroons and colorful jelly fruit slices on her fruit and nut platter further illustrates the blend of homemade and nostalgic store-bought elements that characterize many Passover dessert spreads, especially those that honor familial customs.
Broader Culinary and Economic Implications of Passover Cuisine
The preparation for Passover has significant implications beyond individual family tables. The stringent dietary laws, particularly the avoidance of chametz, drive innovation in the food industry. Manufacturers invest heavily in producing "kosher for Passover" (KFP) versions of common staples, from matzo meal to cereals, snacks, and even cleaning products. This creates a distinct seasonal market, with supermarkets dedicating entire aisles to KFP items in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Data from market research firms often show a notable spike in sales for these specialized products, reflecting the considerable purchasing power associated with Passover preparations.
From a culinary perspective, the necessity of cooking without leavened grains encourages creativity. Chefs and home cooks develop ingenious substitutes and recipes that embrace alternative flours (like almond or coconut flour), root vegetables, and fruits. This constraint, while challenging, often leads to delicious and inventive dishes that might not otherwise be explored. The trend towards incorporating global flavors, as seen in the shawarma-spiced carrots, also demonstrates how Passover cuisine is not static but continues to absorb and adapt influences from diverse culinary traditions.
Passover cooking is also a powerful vehicle for cultural preservation and identity. The act of preparing specific dishes, often using recipes passed down through generations, reinforces familial bonds and connects individuals to a shared heritage. The staff contributions at Bon Appétit exemplify this, with nearly every dish tied to a mother, grandmother, or sister. This intergenerational transfer of culinary knowledge is vital in maintaining cultural continuity in an increasingly globalized world. Food media, like Bon Appétit, plays a crucial role in documenting and disseminating these traditions, inspiring new generations to engage with their culinary heritage while also offering fresh perspectives.
Expert Perspectives and Future Trends
The collective culinary efforts of the Bon Appétit staff reflect several broader trends in contemporary holiday cooking. Firstly, there is a clear move towards culinary personalization. While the foundational elements of the Seder remain sacred, the specifics of dishes are increasingly adapted to individual tastes, dietary needs, and creative impulses. This is evident in the customized matzo bark, the innovative charoset variations, and the globally-inspired carrot dishes.
Secondly, the fusion of traditional and modern elements is a dominant theme. Rather than abandoning heritage recipes, cooks are finding ways to infuse them with contemporary flavors, techniques, or ingredient substitutions. This approach respects the past while ensuring the dishes remain exciting and relevant for today’s palates. The ginger-infused chicken soup and the use of rotisserie chicken illustrate a desire for both flavor complexity and practical efficiency.
Finally, the enduring importance of comfort food and family recipes remains paramount. Despite the innovations, the core motivation behind these Seder preparations is often to recreate cherished memories and connect with loved ones through shared meals. The stories of "Mama’s Matzo Bark" and "Grandma’s sweet-and-sour meatballs" underscore that beyond technique or trend, the emotional resonance of food is what truly defines holiday cooking.
As Passover continues to be celebrated annually, its culinary landscape will undoubtedly keep evolving. The dialogue among Bon Appétit staff serves as a microcosm of this ongoing process, demonstrating how a holiday rooted in ancient history remains vibrantly alive through the thoughtful preparation and sharing of food, a powerful testament to both tradition and innovation.