SC - Re: Bidding for Feast

[Ann]

Just passing this along.  I believe it to be late period.
Phillipa
 
 << As Pesach approaches I find it may interest this group to offer 
 discuss various  Spanish-Portuguese minhagim related to the 
 festival., And as a starter I am  offering the recipe for haroset as 
 handed down in my family. My family  immigrated to Amsterdam from 
 Portugal via Antwerp in the 17th century and  from Amsterdam to 
 America in the first half of the 19th century.  This  recipe as far 
 as I can tell, is unique among the recipes for haroset that I  have 
 seen but ...with all modesty, is the best haroset I have ever tasted.
 
  1 lb. of dates
  6 oz. of almonds - already ground very very fine - almost to a powder
  3 tb. cherry jam
  a glass of fresh orange juice with pulp
  3 tbs. of sweet grape wine, cointreau or sherry
 
  soak the dates in fresh orange juice to soften 
  place the  dates with the juice into a blender
  remove the dates, mix with the wine and cherry jam
 
  sprinkle the almond powder over the haroset before serving.
 
  As explained to me by my grandparents over 50 years ago, the concept 
 is to  make the haroset as the Torah quote - as black as pitch or 
 morter but sweet  as written in Shir Ha Shirim - shachora ani 
 v'na'va -I am black and beautiful. We always served the "Portuguese 
 haroset" on a small silver  filigree plate which further enhanced the 
 hiddur mitzvah - making the mitzvah of observing pesach even more 
 beautiful.