Charoset

Isn't it funny how you carry interests with you from childhood and into your adult life?  I can't remember a time when I didn't like The Beatles.  As for my love of Spanish, as soon as I could read, I started taking out children's books on how to learn it.  Spanish ended up being one of my majors in college and I can't get enough of the language.  Most of my recent artwork involves maps.  I've always been able to spend hours poring over maps or a globe, curious about how the geography of a region can be so different from where I live.

Along with a passion for these things, I've also consistently been intrigued by other cultures and religions.  Holidays and feasts fascinate me, such as Imbolc, the feast of Saint Brigid marking the start of spring (although it is celebrated half way through the winter solstice and spring equinox) or Raksha Bandhan, a festival in India which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.  A reason to celebrate, no matter where or why, always sounds good to me.

Celebrations seem to go hand-in-hand with special food.  Easter wouldn't be the same without my mother's Braided Easter Egg Bread, and in Spain you want to be around some grapes to eat at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.  I can't get enough of these food and holiday correlations.  I want to celebrate them all, cook a feast for each day, even if that seems gluttonous.  Good food is like a party for your tongue.  Perhaps this is why, years ago, I had so much fun running the Cultural Cooking program at the Children's Museum that's in town.

Although Passover isn't until April 18th this year, I've been spying a lot of seder recipes lately.  I've been dreaming of chutneys to put on my biscuits, so I couldn't resist mixing up a chutney-like dish that's traditional for the Seder plate called Charoset.  I saw a recipe for a version with Apples and Beets in the most recent Whole Foods coupon booklet, and knew I had to make it.  Even though I'm not Jewish, and it's not Passover yet, why not celebrate a bit and make something special? It radiates with such a spring-like yellow color, that it brightens up whatever its put on.  On these last cloudy days of winter, I'll take anything that's bright!

Charoset traditionally symbolizes the mortar that the Israelites used to bond bricks together when they were enslaved in Egypt.  The word "charoset" is derived from the Hebrew word for clay.  There are many different combinations of fresh and dried fruits and nuts, and different countries have their own traditional mix.  I chose a very gold and bright combination:  apples, golden beets, golden raisins, walnuts, orange rind and juice, and of course, crystallized ginger.

Gingered Apple Beet Charoset
adapted from a recipe in the March/April edition of the Whole Foods coupon booklet

• 1 cup grated apples about 1 large apple, or 2 super tiny ones
• 1 medium sized golden beet, peeled and grated you can use a red beet if you'd like
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 2/3 cup walnuts, slightly crushed
• 3 tablespoons juice from an orange plus 2 tablespoons of rind 
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• a pinch of salt

This recipe is pretty easy -- just combine the ingredients really well in a large bowl.  The catch is that you'll need a little patience.  While things taste good now, you'll need to let things settle for about a half hour, so that the juices in the fruit can work their magic and soften the beet, plump up the raisins, and sweeten the walnuts.  It's pure bliss to eat, on a biscuit, toast, or straight up with a spoon.  However you use it, the golden color will add a little sunshine to your day.