“A Passover Seder has to be one of the most challenging events to prepare for someone who is not Jewish, or someone who is. It’s a very demanding holiday, taking days to get ready for,” said Judy Lind, Oahu Jewish Ohana’s Seder organizer.
If one observes kosher rules stringently, all foods containing grain — “chametz” in Hebrew — are removed from the home days in advance, and a separate set of dishes is used just for Passover.
A Seder also entails a specific order of rituals performed during the meal, mandated by God to be followed every year so Jews will never forget the value of their freedom. The rituals include samplings of symbolic foods, songs, readings and toasts with wine or grape juice.
Though traditionally a lamb shank is the main course — as a reminder of the sacrificial lamb’s blood that made the plague of death “pass over” Jewish homes — modern families usually serve meats (except shellfish or pork) that are easier to access.
The Ohana’s Seder, to be held April 4 at the Pacific Club, offers a menu of roasted chicken breast with tarragon sauce, fingerling potatoes, a green salad (to represent bitter greens), a hard-boiled egg (a symbol of mourning) and gefilte fish, a fish cake.
Though he did not follow kosher rules for the kitchen, for dessert, Pacific Club executive chef Eric Leterc created a dish free of dairy products, which aren’t allowed in a kosher meal that includes animal protein. His dessert: a “Pavlova” meringue with fresh fruit and lychee sorbet.
Other symbolic foods include “haroset,” a mixture of fruits, nuts, wine and spices, to represent the mortar for bricks made by Jews in slavery; and horseradish, a bitter herb reminiscent of their suffering. And of course, there is matzo, which resembles crackers.
