By Dr. Honey McSugarfried, Special to JTNews
Everyone knows that Matzoh Brei is eaten sweet. There are plenty of symbolic Jewish foods that are salty to remind us of tragedies such as the destruction of the temple or the disappearance of Kozmo.com, but this is not one of them. Matzoh Brei, known by those in the know, as the “Samoa of the Exodus” is an inherently sweet food — a food upon which we “…drizzle the sweet juices of the fig to remember the escape from the oppression of Pharaoh”.
Even Moses — yes, that Moses — wrote in his little-known memoirs The Journey of a Lifetime: They Couldn’t Stop Us, We Were on a Mission From God, “Though we had no time for our bread to rise, Ahron had the clarity of thought to bring some fresh dates. Once we knew those Egyptians would no longer be a problem, we had a celebration and every Hebrew — every man, woman and child, from the highest priest to the lowliest commoner — partook of our bread of affliction smothered in the sweetness of the fig.”
In traditional circles, this sweet fried delicacy is thought of as the pancake of the desert, the dessert of the Sahara or the blintz of the pyramid, though that last moniker has fallen out of favor in past centuries. In more secular circles, you will find this Jewish soul food listed between the French toast and Dutch Babies on the breakfast menus. As one local establishment has printed on their menu: “eat it with sugar…eat it with jam…eat it with syrup…eat it how you’d like, but for Pete’s sake, EAT IT SWEET!”
I do understand the temptation to put salt on your Matzoh Brei. After all, French fries are eaten with salt and everyone loves those. But when it comes right down to it, Matzoh Brei is a festival food, and all festival food is eaten sweet – hamantaschen, challah on Rosh Hashanah, blintzes at the Yom Kippur break-the-fast, biscochos at a family reunion —shall I continue?
Matzoh Brei is the sweet celebratory food of freedom. It tastes better sweet than it does with salt, and is far friendlier to those with high blood pressure. All you have to do combine a dozen eggs and a box of matzoh…maybe some sugar, too. Crush it until it’s soggy and then transfer it over to a hot frying pan. Cover and heat for a bit until firm and then flip it — just like a pancake. After about 10 minutes, you’ll have your own sweetened “pancake of affliction” — just add syrup!
Matzoh Brei is the sweet celebratory food of freedom. It tastes better sweet than it does with salt, and is far friendlier to those with high blood pressure. If you want to feel the pain of losing Kozmo, put some salt on your Challah…If you want to remember the destruction of the Temple, go to a wedding and watch as the groom stomps on the glass. But if you want to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt, or if you just want to have a dang good breakfast, get out the sugar…get out the jam…get out the syrup and fry yourself up some matzoh because that’s how you do it!
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