My Seder style dinner

This past week has been important for both Jews and Christians. Passover and Easter coincide this year (again) and Israel has probably been buzzing with tourists, Jerusalem in particular with Christians.

My boyfriend and I were also supposed to go celebrate Passover in Israel this year. But alas, an exam week ruined the plans, so we settled for spending Easter in Helsinki... The grey views, dirty snow, everything closed, much fun.

But then I got this idea, just for the sake of my boyfriend, that since he wasn't able to do the Seder dinner with his family, maybe I could give it a go here in Helsinki.

This all actually started in New York City last June when I bought the below books while visiting the Jewish museum. I don't know why I did it, probably because of pain of a solely Hebrew Haggadah-book was fresh in mind from that year. To take corrective measures, I decided to buy the Hebrew & English version for next time and the museum gift shop keeper was such a good salesman that he sold me the Passover cookbook while at it. He warned me, though, that the recipes are only kosher style. So I guess the whole Seder now in 2013 was doomed to be a bit of kosher style; passover style; Jewish style. Not quite the real thing but something mimicking it, anyway.

Once my boyfriend finally (took a while!) booked his flights here, the real planning started. What do you need to arrange a tiny Passover dinner for two? I started making a to-do list in my mind and some I could cross out immediately...

• Great, the Haggadah I have from New York.
• There's got to be a Seder plate. Without it, it just won't work. Where to get one of those?
• Did the matza have a special plate, too?
• Does Prophet Elijah need a special cup or would a normal one do?
• How in the world do I make my home "kosher for passover"?
• And of course, where to buy the food? 

I decided that Prophet Elijah needs to settle for one of my Iittala Essence wine glasses. I wouldn't be able to arrange the Seder on the right night anyway, and he is probably busy visiting real Jewish homes. So that's going to have to do. What about removing all the leavened food from my home? Please forgive me, but I saw no point of selling all my pots and pans to a goy (ehm, I'm a goy myself). The kitchen I cleaned, I'll give you that, but I won't go on all my fours with a magnifying glass to look for a bread crumb that might or might not be there. I don't keep bread at home anyway.

(Mind you, upon arriving in Helsinki my boyfriend announced he took a loaf of bread from home and brought it here as it would have expired otherwise. So much for the great efforts of getting rid of all the chametz...)

So, let's move on to the plates. A brief thought of stocking up on tiny Iittala Teema plates crossed my mind, but then I thought that would look too hastily put together. I wanted the real thing. There aren't any Judaica stores or museums in Finland, so my best bet was to surf then net. I remembered seeing lots of online store selling anything Jewish, anything from a small star to a massive Menorah. No problem!

But no, wait. All these stores are American web shops. Any purchase above 25€ and I would have to pay customs and VAT and while at it, an arm and a leg. Same goes for all the Israel web shops as it is outside EU purchases.

Plan B then. Google for Jewish online stores in Europe. Thanks to that blessed European Union, I wouldn't have to worry about any customs formalities and paperwork. I found a nice British online store offering all items Jewish, including beautiful Seder plates of glass. A bit pricey, but hey, at least they deliver to EU countries. Just when I was about to place my order, I noticed a warning text in red: glass items won't be shipped outside the UK. And all the Seder plates in their selection were of glass...

Plan C then. Activating the 4th best language I can speak and write, I googled auf Deutsch for jüdisches online Laden. And there was a hit, and boy was it a good one! Judaica4all offered a great selection of products, including Seder plates and this time there were no red warning texts. I found a tray for the matza and some other small items, too, so problem solved. A week later when the items I had purchased arrived in Finland, I had two days of terror with the local post office, as they had handed my parcel to someone totally else! Eize mazal, this person was honest and returned it (unopened) back to the post office, so I could go retrieve it.

So what was left on my list now? Of course, the holy of the holiest in any Jewish holiday... the food. This is touchy, this is the zone and area where shiksas will be beaten to pulp by all the bubbes and Jewish mamas out there. Nothing tastes as good as your mama's cooking - especially if your mama is Jewish! Flashing images of ruining this Jewish holiday for my boyfriend passed before my eyes: mushy matza ball stew instead of a soup and what not...

But there was no other choice but to work with what I've got. A visit to the only Kosher store in Finland, Zaafranco, provided me with a 1kg box of Aviv Matzot, an Osem Matza Ball mix and Israeli honey for the charoset. Bothering relatives, friends of my friends', and lots of googling for easy Passover recipes, I settled for the following dinner menu:

Seder Plate

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Matza ball soup

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Oven-baked chicken breast with crunchy Matza meal and almond coating
Oven-baked garlic and onion potatoes

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Matza brittle
Almond biscuits

Topping this up with five bottles of wine (all of them Kosher for Passover), everything was set for my boyfriend on Friday night. The charoset, Matza brittle, almond biscuits and soup stock I prepared the day before, maror and all the rest on the same day.

And you know what? It all turned out great! I was able to participate by reading some Hebrew parts of the Haggadah. The charoset and maror were tasty, my boyfriend wanted a second round of both the soup and the chicken. The only part we didn't do so well with was the wine - just finished one bottle...

All in all, we had a nice, secluded dinner in great company, blending Jewish tradition in a little bit off-environment. I'm proud of myself that the food turned out to be a success. However, we both agreed that leshana haba'a be Israel because with more people and his mother's unbelievable food (I especially miss the liver), Passover tastes even better! :-)

PS. The next morning, my boyfriend indulged me with Matza brei, an omelet that will keep you feeling full until the evening!

Matza brei, topped with charoset and maror. Great combo, believe it or not!