Culinary arts, all grades, Passover
Essential Question:
How can we make matzah in a home kitchen that most practicing Jews would consider kosher for Passover, and which everyone would agree is delicious?
Teacher resources:
From shmura to 18-minute matzah, and round to square machine-made matzah, what really is the difference?
Do Now:
How come bread can be either leavened (big and airy) or unleavened (flat and dense)? What are some ways you think might be different in how they are made?
Class Discussion:
Is anyone Jewish?
What can anyone share about matzah, the Passover seder, etc?
Has anyone made yeast bread at home before?
If you had to make bread that absolutely, definitely did not leaven even slightly, what would you do?
Direct Instruction:
Business and manufacturing types may be familiar with something called Six Sigma practices. Wikipedia claims that it was invented in 1986, but to my mind it was invented millennia ago by the authors of the Talmud, because for every mitzvah (Torah commandment) that is even slightly ambiguous, there are traditions that absolutely, definitely prevent the possibility of infraction.
Reading Exodus 12:15-20, there is a very, very clear and strict zero tolerance policy towards any amount of yeast being eaten during the week of Passover. If you do not sweep every crumb of chametz (leavened bread) out of your house before the 15th day of Nisan, and you accidentally eat something leavened prior to the 21st day of Nisan, then you can get exiled.
However☝️ you are explicitly commanded to eat matzah (unleavened bread) during this week. So how can you make sure that you're doing it right?
Check for Understanding:
What causes chametz to be leavened in the first place? Yeast!
And where does yeast come from? The store? The fridge? Maybe that's where you got yours, but back in the old days, it came from the air itself!
If you leave flour and water together in the open air, cells of wild yeast will naturally begin to eat the carbs in the flour, producing CO2, alcohol, and more yeast.
Cross Cultural Connection:
In Matthew 16:5-12, Jesus warns his disciples to beware of "the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees". They think he's being literal but he means The teachings that are common in the area.
The traditional solution is to have a separate cache of wheat to use during Passover which is kept absolutely, definitely completely dry to prevent any accidental growth of wild yeast upon it. This is called Shmura. And when the time comes to actually mix this shmura flour with water, you traditionally use well water that was drawn the previous night and left to "sleep" (mayim shelanu, which would make a great drag name) in order to keep it cool.
All of these precautions ensure that you have 18 minutes to turn Shmura and Mayim Shelanu into Matzah. Any longer than that and the wild yeast from the air around you might begin to metabolize 😲 so you better bake it as quickly as possible! Thankfully, it's super easy to mix flour and water, roll it out into a flat dough, and place it on a baking stone/tray.
Is this the only way to ensure you are not eating any leavening? Well, there's an old saying that two Jews will have three opinions.
Activity:
Every year for the past ten years I have tried making my own Matzah because I don't like the extremely thin and crispy type of matzah they sell in stores. It's perfectly acceptable to make yours thicker, softer, and chewier, so long as you aren't breaking any other rules. And this year, I think I've finally figured out a recipe worth sharing.
It does not use Shmura, but by heat-treating regular flour it keeps with the spirit of the law (in my opinion).
It does not use Mayim Shelanu, but that's more of a tradition than a requirement.
I add salt and other things to make it tasty.
It takes 5-10 minutes from start to finish, and it's very easy!
If this makes you uncomfortable, that's fine! I welcome your thoughts and opinions.
Custard Matzah
You will need:
All purpose flour
Milk
Eggs
Salt
Stove + Frying pan (oiled; cast iron is best)
Microwave + Large microwave safe bowl + Small microwave safe bowl
Utensils (at least a fork, but a whisk, spatula, and wooden spoon are also helpful)
Understand that I don't actually measure anything (sorry), so all of these weights and volumes are approximate.
Put, like, 5 handfuls of flour into the big bowl, stir it around to break up any lumps, then microwave it for 2-3 minutes. Take it out one minute before it's done and use the fork/whisk to break it up (it will harden as the steam leaves the flour). Note: heat-treating the flour kills any yeast (and E. coli) that was living on it.
In the smaller bowl, add, like a quarter as much milk as you used flour. Add, umm, more salt than you think you'll need but not a lot of salt. Like, a big spoonful. When the microwave is free, heat it up for about 2 minutes until it's hot, maybe steaming, definitely nowhere near boiling.
Oil and heat your pan. It will need to be hot and ready as soon as the dough is ready, so only turn the heat down if it begins to smoke.
Crack two eggs into the hot salty milk and stir stir stir until it looks custardy (because it literally is).
Pour the custard into the hot flour a little at a time and stir with the big spoon. Unlike when making pancakes, over-mixing is better than under-mixing. Keep going until you reach a desired consistency. Whatever consistency you desire! Hard, thick cakes? Okay! Soft pancake batter? Sure! Don't overthink it, this is a quick, easy and cheap recipe; what do you lose by trying it again?
Get your hands wet. I recommend dipping them in the custard, but water is fine too. Salt water is even better, but I didn't tell you to prepare that.
With your wet hands, scoop/pour the dough/batter into the hot pan (try not to touch it), then to push down on the top surface of your soon-to-be flatbread to get it flat and even.
After a minute or two, use your fork/spatula to turn the matzah over. This can be a little tricky, so hopefully you didn't make your matzah too big if you're not good at it. I'm good at it, and I still mess it up sometimes. Cook it for another couple of minutes, flipping again as needed until it is brown on both sides.
It's done! If you're not sure it's cooked in the middle it literally doesn't matter because you already heat-treated the flour and the eggs are definitely cooked through.
And it's an incredibly versatile recipe, too. Here's one I made for lunch today with tomato paste and jalapeño condensed milk (it was on clearance and marked kosher for Passover), plus a little cheese pressed into the top.
Feel free to try making your own variations and sharing them here! Especially let me know if you try a sweet one.
