Jews around the whole world celebrate Seder during the time of Passover. All family members and friends get together at one place to have a special meal known as Seder. During Seder, Jews retell the story of Exodus from Egypt. Seder is not a usual type of dinner.
In this dinner, various kinds of rituals are followed and special types of meals are prepared. Mostly, Seder takes place at home. With the changing trend, most people prefer to celebrate Seder at a beautiful location.
People prefer to contact the tour operators of Kosher passover programs and want to celebrate Seder at a different place. The Passover program’s operators make arrangements for everything. Haggadah is a special book in which the story of ancient Israelites is written. This book is referred to during the time of Seder to retell the story of Exodus.
Also, this book is referred to know the Seder rituals and tradition. The Seder rituals are usually represented by different types of foods. The Seder is comprised of different food items that indicate the bad times faced by the ancient Jews in Egypt.
Passover Seder Timing
Another name of Passover is Pesach. Pesach Holidays take place during the spring season. This festival usually falls during March or April. In Israel, Seder is celebrated during the first night of Passover. But, Jews in different countries celebrate Seder on the first two nights of Passover.
Seder Table
There are different types of special foods and dishes that need to be placed on the Seder table. On the Seder table, the most important thing is the Seder plate. The Seder plate is comprised of six different ritual food items that are referred to at various times during the Seder.
Along with the Seder plate, there is one ceremonial plate with pieces of matzot. The matzot are wrapped into a special envelope made up of cloth. There are three different sections of matzot and these three pieces represent Cohen, Levi, and Yisrael. These are three different castes in the Jewish community. In Haggadah, there are three special moments in which the directions are given for using these three pieces of matzot.
During the Seder, the Haggadah also gives directions for drinking four glasses of wine. Thus, wine is also an essential component during the time of Passover. It is important to check the label of kosher on wine before purchasing one. There are different types of kosher ones available in the market. You should purchase both white wine and red wine.
It is important to set out a glass of wine for Prophet Elijah as per the Seder tradition. Along with this, a new tradition has been started in which the cup of water is placed on the table for prophetess Miryam, Moshe’s sister. This new tradition is started to acknowledge the importance of women in Passover.
Passover For Festive Meal
Guests start eating festive kosher meals after the first reading of the Haggadah. The types of dishes served during the Passover are based on the origin of the host whether he/she is Ashkenazic or Sephardic. It is important to know what kind of foods is acceptable during the time of Passover.
Usually, the Passover meal is served with soup like matzo ball soup and sometimes egg drop soup as well. The main course of Passover is comprised of fish courses such as gefilte fish. It is a mixture of minced white fish with onions, herbs, and seasoning. This mixture is molded in different loaves and after that poached. You can serve this dish with horseradish.
You can easily serve anything for Passover, but you should make sure that the ingredients are kosher. There are few traditional recipes that you can prepare for Passover such as sweet brisket, chili sauce, roasted chicken, etc. The starch including flour is not permitted during the time of Passover. Potatoes are mainly used during the time of Passover. You can simply roast the potatoes or prepare kugel.
During the time of Passover, you can use any type of vegetable. Few vegetables fall under the category of kitniyot such as legumes, peas, rice, corn, seeds, and millet. Some Jews do not prefer to eat Kitniyot during the time of Passover.
Therefore, peas, corn, and beans are not used for preparing Passover recipes. But, there are still plenty of choices after eliminating kitniyot like Miriam’s red cabbage and colorful cauliflower. During the spring season, Asparagus and artichokes are good choices.
Passover Seder is incomplete without a dessert. The process of preparing kosher dessert for Passover is a little tricky because leavened food items are not allowed during the time of Pesach. But, you can prepare gluten-free Passover cakes and cookies. You can serve delicious Passover desserts at the end of the meal.