[Sca-cooks] Matzoh flavors

[Randy Goldberg MD]

> > "shmurah" matzoh  (very specially watched matzoh
>
> Huh? "specially watched matzoh"? Watched for what? So they don't
> hatch? :-) There are balls of dough, right? Are they watched so
> they don't burn? Or so they have just the right texture? Or just
> because if you have a bunch of rabbis standing around staring at
> a tray of matzoh, it makes it special? :-)

Sort of. Shmurah ("guarded") matzoh is kept under observation from the
moment the wheat is harvested, through grinding, and through baking, to
make sure that it is never in contact with water or leavening agents for
longer than a grand total of 18 minutes. I'm not entirely sure of the
significance of 18 minutes (it's said that the flour begins to "ferment"
in that time, but we all know that's not the case).

By the by, on a previous topic, wine is permitted because the
prohibition is against fermented GRAIN products, not fermented products
in general.

Avraham