Sacred Food: Pesach Menu
A picture from last years’ ramp hunting adventure. Ramps and fiddle head ferns are in season right about now.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I should make for Pesach this year. I always do. The food is really as important as any other part of the seder. For many people the meal is what it’s all about. I know many families, including my own growing up, that saw the service as something to get through before you could eat.
I like the meal to be an integral part of the service and not something separate, which is why the food I serve is so important to me. Carefully planning a menu, which is something I can also share with my husband, is something I really enjoy. Choosing dishes that are symbolic and work well together to create a delicious meal — well it’s just fun and fulfilling.
This year the theme is going to be fresh and local. While I have an idea of what I’ll be making, the final decisions won’t be made until Sunday morning at the farmers’ market. That might seem risky, but I’m at that market almost every Sunday — so I do have a pretty good idea of what’s available. I love the idea of using food for Passover that I can talk to the person/people who grew or raised it. Passover is as much a spring holiday of re-birth as it is a holiday of spiritual re-birth and serving food that is closely connected to the land I live on will help enhance that connection for me, and hopefully my guests. While the haggadah focuses primarily on the Exodus from Egypt, there are many obvious and subtle references to the nature holiday hiding just below the surface. From the symbolic foods on the seder plate to the spiritual re-birth of a people — it’s just not a huge leap.
You can learn more about the agrarian roots of Passover in Arthur Waskow’s Seasons of our Joy.
Happy Pesach!
[tags]sacred food, eating, pesach, passover, farmers market, local[/tags]
Mini Manifesto:
Culture: I am fascinated by both culture on most levels. I mostly focus on American culture and what makes us who we are as a country, but I'm also intrigued by sub-cultures in the USA and the growing global cultural trends.
Technology: Technology is one of the strongest drivers of cultural and even spiritual changes in the last 100 years, and possibly the next 100.