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Jewish matzo: composition and beneficial properties of bread. Matzah - what is it? Matzo - recipe Matzo recipe at home

Jewish matzo: composition and beneficial properties of bread. Matzah - what is it? Matzo - recipe Matzo recipe at home

World cuisines are replete with a variety of original delicacies, and among them, a special place is given to bread: Jewish matzo is a clear example of this. These thin flatbreads resemble Armenian lavash, but are crispier. The attractiveness of this extraordinary yeast-free baking is that it is not difficult to make in your own kitchen. This will take you a minimum of time, since the classic recipe from Israel can easily be classified as an express recipe. However, despite the fact that matzo is made in a hurry, it always turns out perfectly: tasty, thin, appetizing. To bake it, you don’t need to go far away. The recipe from the promised land with step-by-step photos is presented below.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Number of servings – 10.

Ingredients

To make matzo from an authentic Jewish recipe, you don't have to waste time looking for unusual and expensive ingredients. All the components of such bread are extremely simple and familiar. Here is a list of necessary baking products:

drinking water – 1 tbsp.;
flour – 2 tbsp.

How to cook Jewish matzo

Jewish matzo is prepared very simply and incredibly quickly. The above recipe clearly proves this. After all, baking requires a ridiculously small set of ingredients. Even if you have never visited the Israeli lands and have not seen how matzah is baked, you will cope with this culinary task just perfectly on your own. Don't believe me? Check it out!

So, if you are engaged in the process of preparing matzo, then after preparing all the necessary ingredients, immediately, without unnecessary delay, begin kneading the dough. First you will need to take a deep plate or a free bowl. Sift the flour and pour it into the selected container. Next, you need to pour clean drinking water into the dry mass. Everything will need to be mixed thoroughly.

The resulting composition must be placed on a work surface generously sprinkled with flour. The mass must be thoroughly kneaded. Do not use modern technology for this - there is nothing better than manual labor. Then the dough will turn out to be the consistency you need: dense and elastic. It is recommended to knead the mixture for at least 4 minutes until the mixture becomes homogeneous.

On a note! As soon as you start kneading the Jewish-style matzo dough, you should immediately turn off the oven. It should gradually heat up to 200 degrees, no less. Matzo can only be baked in a hot oven, otherwise it will not turn out right.

The finished dough, which you have managed to knead thoroughly, should be cut into several pieces. They should be the same size. From the specified amount of ingredients you can get from 8 to 12 parts.

Now it’s worth tackling each fragment of the test individually. To do this, sprinkle the work surface a little more with flour. Roll out the pieces of dough one at a time as thin as possible. As a result, you should get smooth, even somewhat translucent cakes. They will need to be placed on a baking sheet, which must first be covered with food parchment. Following all the subtleties and rules of preparing matzah, as in Israel, all the preparations need to be pierced with a fork in several places. Apply punctures in random order.

All that remains is to send the matzah, made according to the Lenten recipe, into a thoroughly hot oven. It takes about 4 minutes to bake thin and tasty cakes that will turn out crispy. Do not worry! If you have thoroughly and very thinly rolled out the dough, then this time will be more than enough. When the matzo has acquired a pleasant and appetizing golden hue, this means that the baked goods are completely ready.

Don't forget to cool the flatbreads prepared according to this simple and quick Jewish recipe! They turn out amazingly tasty. The attractiveness of such baking is that it is universal. You can serve it with tea or coffee with chocolate spread, jam, homemade preserves, peanut butter, fruit curd or marmalade. You can also serve flatbreads with the first course. They are good with a variety of soups, pickles, and cabbage soup.

Video recipes

Matzah is very easy to make, video recipes will prove it to you:

Even if you don't eat matzah because of religious beliefs, crispy flatbreads made from elemental ingredients can be part of your diet. Homemade matzo is prepared quite quickly and simply due to the fact that the dough for it does not require a long time for infusion or fermentation. We’ll talk about all the intricacies of preparing matzo at home in the recipes below.

Jewish matzo recipe

Ingredients:

wheat flour - 1 1/4 tbsp.;
large egg;
- 2 tbsp. spoons;
water - 1 tbsp. spoon.

Preparation

While the oven temperature reaches 180 degrees, we have enough time to prepare and roll out the bread dough. Mix the flour with a good pinch of salt. Separately, beat the egg with water and oil, and add the liquid to the flour. Knead the dough, divide it in half and roll it into large flat cakes about a millimeter thick. Carefully transfer the matzo to a parchment-lined baking sheet and prick with a fork. Cooking the matzo in the oven will take 10-12 minutes, after which we remove the flatbreads, cool them for a couple of hours and only then try them.

Matzo made from wheat and corn flour

Ingredients:

wheat flour - 250 g;
- 200 g;
water - 190 ml;
oil - 3 tbsp. spoons.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to the highest possible temperature, on most devices this is 250 degrees. Mix both types of flour together and add water and oil to the dry ingredients. After kneading the elastic dough, divide it into 8 parts, roll each thinly and place on a baking sheet preheated in the oven. Prick the flatbreads with a fork and sprinkle with salt, and then brown in a hot oven.

If desired, the flatbread can be sprinkled with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or dried herbs before baking, or some of the flour can be replaced with bran for added benefit. Bran matzo can also be baked in an electric waffle iron; the latter is preheated to 200 degrees and the thinly rolled dough is baked in it for 20-30 seconds.

MATTZAH IS UNLEAVED BREAD. Preparation:

Ingredients:

* 0.5 kg flour
* 250 g ice water

preparation:

1. Knead the dough until it becomes flakes.
2. Place on the board. Press the dough with a schnitzel hammer (or other heavy object) until homogeneous.
3. Divide the lump into four parts and roll out with a rolling pin to a thickness of 1.5-2 mm.
4. Make holes all over the surface with a fork or a special roller with spikes.
5. Bake in a clean (no oil) hot frying pan over an open fire (not in the oven).

Readiness can be judged by yellowing of the matzo leaf and brownish spots.

EGG MATTZAH

Ingredients:

* 0.5 kg flour
* 4 eggs (instead of water)

preparation:

the same as for regular matzah.

Copenhagen Haggadah 1739 Artist - Philip Isaac Levy (1720-1795)

It is important to remember that in order to obtain kosher matzah, the time for the entire process from the moment the flour comes into contact with water until the rolled out dough is placed in the pan should not exceed 18 minutes! During this time, it is believed that the dough does not have time to ferment.

You can watch the process of making matzo in this video:

These Jewish flatbreads are called matzot or matzah. They are made from yeast-free dough, which does not undergo a fermentation process. This type of bread is the only product that is permissible for consumption according to the Torah during the celebration of Passover, which is an analogue of Easter among the Orthodox people. For the Slavs, this holiday represents the Resurrection of Christ. The Jews organize a similar celebration in honor of the fact that their ancestors left Egypt. However, when they began to interpret Scripture, the Orthodox were allowed to eat leavened bread, which personifies the human nature of Christ, while Catholics were allowed to eat only unleavened bread (host), associated with purity, truth and sinlessness. Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jews were required to ritually slaughter a virgin young male lamb, roast it whole over a fire, and eat it with bitter herbs and matzah on Passover night, surrounded by their family. A little later, these sacrifices were prohibited. Now during the celebration of Passover, Jews eat only matzo.

In Israel, Passover begins in the spring on the 15th day of the month Nisan. According to the Pentateuch, on the eve of the last Egyptian plague - the defeat of the firstborn, God gave the Jews instructions to slaughter and roast lambs and mark the doorposts with their blood. At night, God passed by the houses of the chosen people and they were saved. Today no one makes sacrifices, but on the Passover dinner platter (Seder) you can always find a symbolic roasted lamb shank (zroah), participating in the ritual, but not used for consumption. According to the body of traditional Jewish law - the Torah, matzah can be consumed from the 1st day of the week-long holiday as a reminder that during the Exodus, the Israelites brought dough from Egypt, which did not have time to sour, since they were expelled, and they were in a hurry, and baked from it unleavened flatbreads. During the Seder ritual, one piece of matzo the size of an olive is consumed at dinner. However, according to tradition, there are several moments throughout the evening for eating matzah.

Matzo is baked 2 weeks before Passover. In Orthodox Jewish communities this is done according to a recipe that has remained unchanged for several millennia. Collaborative hand-making of flatbreads begins with the formation of groups, which traditionally include only men. They are preparing matzah shmurah. These matzo sheets are made from wheat that has been protected from any contact with moisture from the moment the ears are cut until the flour is made. The Orthodox carefully sift three kilograms of this flour, pour it into a heap, make a depression in the center and pour water into it. Then mix everything quickly, avoiding the formation of lumps. The finished dough is rolled out into flat cakes no more than 1.5 mm thick. In order for air to pass freely, the cakes are pierced in several places with a fork. Then the matzo is baked in the oven at a temperature of 150 degrees. It is very important in this culinary process to keep within 18 minutes - from the moment of combining the flour with water until the matzo is completely baked. Otherwise, the brittle white sheets of matzo will not be considered kosher.

A plate of matzo can be bought not only in Israel, because Jews celebrate Passover in all countries of the world. In any supermarket, flour-colored matzo can be found labeled “Kosher Matzo for Passover.” However, most Jews prefer not to deviate from ancient traditions and prepare matzo on their own. These flatbreads can be eaten on weekdays, and you can also cook dishes such as matsebray with it. To do this, matzo flour is mixed with eggs and milk and fried in oil. Ready-made flatbreads can be eaten as a separate dish or as a dessert if you first sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon.

In anti-Semitic literature and popular superstitions, matzo is associated with the blood of Christian babies, that is, to unite with God, the Jews added a drop of such blood to the dough. According to the Israeli historian, the mutual rejection and fear of Jews and Christians is determined by the similarity of religious texts and the difference in religious symbols. Matzah is not only an ordinary food, but also a ritual food, incomprehensible and therefore terrible for Christians.

During the Soviet years, our fathers and grandfathers stood in lines for it, comparable only to the lines for scarce caviar or for exhibitions of Western art, and even earlier, at the risk of their lives, they produced it in the ghetto in the territory occupied by the Nazis and in the Gulag camps. The issue of baking it or delivering it from abroad was sometimes decided at the level of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and the leadership of the KGB.

All this related to matzo, an indispensable part of the Passover seder and the Passover celebration in general. The word “matza” itself (in Hebrew “matzot”) literally means “squeezed out” or “deprived of moisture.” This word refers to flatbreads made from unleavened dough, which for Jewish believers are the only type of bread allowed for consumption during the Passover holiday.

Eating matzah reminds the Jews that during the Exodus, their ancestors “baked the dough that they carried out of Mizraim into unleavened cakes, for it had not become leavened; for they were expelled from Mizraim and could not linger” (Shmois, 12:39). Therefore, even now matzo consists of only two components - flour and water. Everything else (even salt) is prohibited to be added. In connection with this unpretentiousness, the Torah also calls matzah “lechem oni” (“bread of sorrow” or “bread of poverty”). Eating matzo reminds Jews of how their ancestors, relying on the help of the Almighty, left Egypt without even storing food supplies. Therefore, in the book “Zohar,” one of the fundamental works on which Kabbalah is based, matzo is called “food of faith.” It also explains that such an identification is largely based on the fact that faith is a kind of “reflection” of matzo - it also includes only two elements: humility and submission, and nothing more. It is believed that a Jew who eats matzah each time emphasizes the immutability of his ancestors’ decision to exodus from Egypt and makes his personal “Exodus” from the “Egypt” of the material world.

There is another interpretation of the reason for eating matzo on Passover. It takes us back to the time of the creation of the world. According to this interpretation, the forbidden fruit that Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge was not an apple, but a grain of wheat. Having tasted it, the first man lost his idea of the Creator. Thus, by eating matzah on Passover, we correct Adam's mistake. At the same time, since each person is like Adam, and the Passover holiday is the beginning of a new life cycle, eating matzo is an opportunity to renew and improve one’s Jewishness as a way of life.

Matzo is an essential part of the first two seders. At the same time, Jews are forbidden to eat matzo on the eve of Passover (sometimes it is even believed that matzo cannot be consumed during the month before the onset of Passover). According to tradition, this is done in order to awaken in them a greater desire to taste matzah during the holiday.

Although formally matzah was allowed to be baked from any grain whose flour could be fermented (spelt, oats, rye, barley, wheat), in practice matzah is usually made from wheat flour. At the same time, special precautions are used to prevent the dough from fermenting when baking matzah. For example, since leaven is usually favored by elevated water temperatures, water for matzo is usually prepared ahead of time. Another way to combat sourdough is to pierce the dough to remove any air bubbles in it. The entire process of making matzah until baking should not exceed 18 minutes (this time is the minimum period for the natural processes of fermentation of the dough to begin).

For many centuries, each Jewish family prepared matzo for itself - in its own oven. In addition, many communities baked matzah for those of their members who were unable to do so themselves. At that time, making matzo consisted of 18 steps, a complete list of which is given on the website matza.ru. First, flour was poured in and water was poured in, then they were mixed. Then the next worker, to whom the initial batch was transferred, thoroughly kneaded the dough on a special metal table called a “finer.” The dough was shaped into a “sausage”, which was handed over to the rolling team. Each of them received their own piece of this “sausage” and turned it into a flat cake. Then holes were made in the cakes and they were handed over to the baker. He hung the cakes on poles and placed the poles in the oven. When ready, the cakes were removed from the oven, placed on a clean table and sorted, leaving only clean sheets. In the middle of the 19th century, due to the development of technology and the movement of Jews to cities where it was no longer possible to prepare matzo individually, a new method of making matzo appeared - by machine. It was first used in Austria in 1857. Its appearance caused a long aloha dispute between rabbis - whether the innovation would contribute to the penetration of moisture into the flour and, thereby, leavening of the dough. But in the end, the machine method won, and this led to a change in the shape of the matzo - from a round or oval flatbread, it turned into the square so familiar to us, since machines, of course, found it convenient to cut square pieces of dough. Nowadays, almost all matzo is baked by machine. In the old fashioned way, in the oven, only the so-called. matzo shmurah (protected matzo), the flour for which is made from grain that is under special supervision from the moment of harvest.