Charoset | Imamother

watergirl

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 11:42 am

amother OP wrote:

A working theory...anyone who says they love charoset is full of it. Is there even one person who makes it, thinks about it or eats charoset any other time of the year? No.
It's gross.

How are you making yours? You’re doing something wrong (and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I don’t appreciate being called full of it).

amother

Brown

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 11:59 am

We use the charoset to dip the maror into. Are we the only ones? We don’t eat spoonfuls of it.
I would never call charoset gross (and I also wouldn’t call anyone full of it, but that’s going to take me off topic).
It has a nice color from the deep red wine I pour in. Everything from the fresh ginger and smashed cinnamon sticks to the toasted walnuts and fresh apples give it a beautiful aroma too. I don’t know how those ingredients could produce anything gross and the alcohol in the Cabernet keep them from spoiling.
Most of my friends use similar ingredients. Some use almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts, many add dates. I know a few who add honey or sugar but I don’t see the need for that. So far nothing there could be gross. No raw fish, chicken innards, goose fat or lobster tentacles and I’ve never heard a minhag including those.

zaq

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 3:11 pm

I don't make it year round because it's special for Pesach. Neither do I spread honey on apples at any time other than RH, not because we dislike it but because it's special for RH. I make cheesecake once a year for Shavuot, latkes once a year on Chanuka, hamantashen for Purim and holopches for Sukkot. They're all good dishes but I "save" them for the relevant holiday. It annoys me to see hamantashen being sold before Rosh Hashana, kwim?

My sister makes a triple batch of charoset because her whole family pounds it, with or without matzah.

If you, OP, don't care for it, so be it. על טעם וריח אין להתווכח. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean anything. Consider a different recipe or accept that the purpose of charoset is not to be an enjoyable appetizer but to symbolize the mortar our enslaved ancestors used to build structures for Pharaoh.

A word of mussar if I may: it's unbecoming to call a food, no matter how much you personally dislike it, an insulting term like "gross," unless it's so putrefied that it can no longer be considered food. I will do you the courtesy of assuming you were absent the day they taught that in school, and at a friend's house the day your parents addressed the issue.

amother

Sand

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 4:14 pm

I enjoy charoset on Pesach. It's part of the whole experience. I agree with Zaq that certain foods should be reserved for specific holidays because it makes them more special and anticipated.

I do agree with OP on one aspect. Charoset made with a food processor is definitely not as appealing as a handmade chunky charoset. I won't say it's really gross, but it's not as appealing. We make a more unusual charoset in our home because we have a child who is allergic to raw apples. So we first bake an apple and then chop it up and mix it with the other ingredients, so it actually tastes even more like an apple dessert.

Reality

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 4:29 pm

amother Sand wrote:

I strongly disagree. It's supposed to look like bricks. A food processor does a much better job of that. It looks like a dip. Doesn't look anymore disgusting then any other dip people gobble down with their challah.

My mil always made hers by hand and it looked a lot less appealing, not like any dip I have ever seen served at anyone's table.

zaq

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 4:40 pm

I wouldn't even bother dirtying an appliance to make charoset. Aside from salt water, it's the easiest seder plate ingredient to prepare. Grate an apple on a box grater, shake in some ground walnuts or almonds, sprinkle in your cinnamon and you're done. Add some Sederade if it's too thick, some more nuts if it's too thin, and hide it in the fridge before someone eats it for lunch.

Or grind together an assortment of dried fruits like pitted prunes, dates, and apricots, and mix with a bit of wine and cinnamon. It has the added advantage of balancing somewhat the unfortunate intestinal consequences of the matzah.

amother

Dill

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 4:42 pm

Reality wrote:

Bricks are the opposite of a mushy dip-like consistency. Large chunks are more like bricks.

amother

Dill

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 4:44 pm

zaq wrote:

Sederade! Lol. Love it.

zaq

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 7:50 pm

amother Dill wrote:

Bricks are the opposite of a mushy dip-like consistency. Large chunks are more like bricks.

Not bricks. The mortar between the bricks. If you wanted bricks you could use a slab of overdone potato kugel. Mortar is kind of gloppy and sticky.

Ema of 5

Mon, Apr 15 2024, 7:55 pm

amother OP wrote:

A working theory...anyone who says they love charoset is full of it. Is there even one person who makes it, thinks about it or eats charoset any other time of the year? No.
It's gross.

I love my charoses. I don’t eat it all year because it’s special for Pesach. I love the grated marror too, but I don’t eat that either. And I don’t eat eggs with salt water. I don’t generally eat apples with honey. I do t eat hamantashen all year round.