Pessah Tidbits

Lehem Erez has such delicious cakes and cookies for Pessah you won't mind not eating hametz.

By EVA BEN-DAVID
Lehem Erez has such delicious cakes and cookies for Pessah you won't mind not eating hametz. Of course this bakery also uses traditional Pessah ingredients such as coconut and meringue, but all the goodies are very original. Examples include a coconut-orange cake with caramel cream ( NIS 36, or NIS 59 for a round cake), a chocolate-pistachio nut cake (NIS 38), meringue cookies with pistachio cream (NIS 29) or "haroset" sweets on a cinnamon stick, containing raisins, dates, almonds and date syrup in white chocolate (NIS 6 apiece). Lehem Erez also sells horseradish and haroset you need for the Seder night. At the Dr. Lek ice cream stores you can find tasty and impressive looking cakes, such as a chocolate-hazelnut ice cream cake, a vanilla-walnut ice cream cake with caramel cream or a passion fruit mousse cake with meringue; the price for a cake is NIS 95. Dr. Lek will also be making kosher-for-Pessah French crepes during the holiday. At the supermarkets you can find a variety of kosher-for-Pessah cakes; for example in the Osem Habayit series, which contains a chocolate-hazelnut, a chocolate-chocolate chip, a marble and a brownies fudge cake (NIS 15.45). Elite is also introducing a kosher-for Pessah brownies cake this year (NIS 15.75), and in addition, it offers a plum cake (NIS 15.75), a marble cake and a chocolate cake (both NIS 13.50). If you want to bake a Pessah cake yourself, but the easy way, you can use the Osem mix for a chocolate cake (NIS 13.95); all you have to add is water, oil and eggs. If you don't want to make your own haroset or horseradish, you have plenty of choices in the supermarket. Yad Hamelekh has "homemade" horseradish available in Hatzi Hinam, Roladin or Rami Levi supermarkets for NIS 8-NIS 12. Olivia produces horseradish and haroset in 190 gr. jars, sold at NIS 10-NIS 11. Ahla salads also offer horseradish in a small jar, available in the refrigerated department of your supermarket (NIS 7.65). There's no Pessah without matzot, and also here you have many different kinds. Adama has organic matzot, made from organic whole wheat flour; a one-kilo box is NIS 39.90. Matzot Rishon offer lite matzot (NIS 14 for 400 gr., or NIS 25 for one kilo), egg matzot (NIS 15 for a 300 gr. box), whole wheat matzot and rye matzot (both NIS 14). Wine (or grape juice) will flow abundantly at the Seder table, and many new wines are offered this time of year. The Tepperberg wineries has different series: Reserve, Terra and the cheaper Israeli series; in the latter, you can find a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot or a Shiraz 2006 for NIS 28, a Chardonnay 2006 for NIS 32 or a Sauvignon Blanc 2006 for NIS 25. In its more expensive Yarden series, Golan wineries has a new dessert wine called Heights Wine 2004 (NIS 99), the Gamla series or the Golan series of younger wines; in the latter you can find the new Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (NIS 49). A Gamla Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 is NIS 75, and the Gamla Sangiovese 2004, a dry red wine, is NIS 68; the Yarden Mount Hermon Red 2006, a mix of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Frank, is NIS 38. Because you have to drink so many cups, you might opt for rose wine, which may feel a little lighter. In the Barkan Classic series you can find a Shiraz rose 2006, sold for NIS 29. The Segal wineries offer a dry rose wine called Fusion, part of the Merom Galil series,at NIS 36. The Binyamina wineries sell a Cabernet Blush, a semi-dry blush wine, part of the Teva series: NIS 30. Since preparing a Seder meal is preceded in many households by cleaning and taking out special Pessah dishes, you can make your cooking and cleaning somewhat easier by using single-use dishes and cups. Some of these dishes, found in such places as the Pa'amit Store, will look very elegant. Ecological-minded consumers may consider using Tidy baking trays, made from bio-degradable material, instead of aluminum. The Tidy trays, available in the health food stores, come in all kinds of shapes; the prices range from NIS 12.90 for a set of six small trays to NIS 19.90-NIS 22.90 for a set of three rectangular or octagonal trays.