PrintChocolate-Covered Matzo, Artisan Style
This is a true story: when I was about five years old, I asked my mother how Moses and his friends had time to stop in the middle of the desert to dip their matzo in chocolate. Turns out I wasn't the only curious kid. This Passover season marks the 20th anniversary of Chuck Siegel's (the Charles of Charles Chocolates) matzo-dipping party. But the whole scene got started with apples—not dipped in honey, but in caramel. Chuck, then owner of Attivo Confections, was vacuum-sealing his candied Granny Smith apples with heavy-duty equipment. "The guy we bought the bags and the machines from was Jewish, and still is Jewish," Siegel said. "And he said, 'my daughter really wants to make some chocolate-covered matzo—can we come over and put some matzo through the enrobing line?'"
Before then, Siegel had only noshed on the Manischewitz variety of Passover chocolate, which—if I do say so myself—does as big a disservice to cacao as kosher wine does to grapes. “I’d never had matzo with good chocolate on it," Siegel said. These days, he uses an undisclosed lecithin-free artisanal chocolate (lecithin is made with soy beans, which expand when you cook them, making them "leavened" and therefore unsuitable for Passover) and Streit's Matzo (in Siegel's words, "the only brand of Matzo that I think has flavor").
The dipping party is a private affair, but the Charles Chocolates Chocolate-Covered Matzo is on sale now through the end of Passover, April 27.
About the author: Emily Stone, proprietor of Chocolate in Context, is a chocolate enthusiast, itinerant traveler, and a lover of literature who lives in Pittsburgh. She's been a movie reviewer, a reproductive health researcher, and an independent bookstore owner. Her writing has appeared in the magazines Budget Travel, Travel + Leisure, and Time Out New York, as well as on the websites World Hum and Epicurious.
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12 Comments:
Let me see if I have this right. His chocolate-covered matzoh isn't kosher for Passover? Then what the hell is the point of this story? If you observe Passover you're not going to eat this and if you don't then why bother with matzoh at all?
RichardCrystal at 1:16PM on 04/03/08
It sound like the chocolate he uses IS kosher for Passover because it doesn't contain lecithin.
By the way, I don't observe Passover, but I enjoy a slab of matzo every now and then. If I can incorporate chocolate into the experience, even better!
Matzo - it isn't just for Jews anymore!
punkin712 at 2:18PM on 04/03/08
punkin, LOL..my grandmother, God rest her soul would eat matzoh all year round. I'll never understand who would eat matzoh if they didn't have to! (Goyim?)
My other grandmother always had a sweet tooth. One Passover when I was a child I caught her dipping egg matzoh into U-Bet chocolate syrup! Same concept, I guess.
RichardCrystal at 2:57PM on 04/03/08
I stand corrected. This is why I shouldn't read these blogs at work!
RichardCrystal at 2:58PM on 04/03/08
I make a slightly different version every year at Passover that gets rave reviews. Check out recipe on Epicurious - My Trademark, Most Requested, Absolutely Magnificent Matzoh Crunch.
Catharine56 at 3:00PM on 04/03/08
Many people will be fine with this product. But strict observers will not consider this chocolate-covered matzoh to be acceptable because it is produced through machines that also are used for products that are NOT kosher for Passover.
floretbroc at 5:03PM on 04/03/08
My friend worked in his factory!
iliana at 6:34PM on 04/03/08
i've made that matzo crunch, and it lives up to its name.
cybercita at 11:31PM on 04/03/08
Hate to admit it - but I've *never* had chocolate covered matzoh. Slathered with butter and salt yes - but not chocolate. Since this is the second time today someone's mentioned this treat, I'm going to try the Epicurious recipe. Thanks Catherine!
JeffsInTheKitchen at 6:34AM on 04/04/08
I'm Jewish, my husband's not. Since the beginning of time, his VERY Catholic grandmother serves matzoh with every single holiday meal. It's amazing!! I spent my entire childhood dreading it, yet here she is serving it up with ham on Easter and actually enjoying it. It's amazing.
On another note, I have discovered Jacques Torres chocolate covered matzoh (with peanut butter - mmmmmmm...) and it's changed my life. I actually have something to look forward to on Passover now!
Ariel777 at 12:13PM on 04/04/08
If you're going to put chocolate on your matzah, make sure it's Streit's Egg Matzah -- the best!
SavtaShayna at 1:55PM on 04/04/08
I recently saw a box of matzoh in a local store, but it was called "Bible Bread"! I laughed out loud. I'm so glad to see there are so many non-Jews who aren't afraid of the matzoh!
Richard - we must have had the same grandmother, with the U-Bet syrup!
CookiePie at 3:05PM on 04/04/08