By Courtney Taylor
Gannett News Service

Anyone attending a Passover Seder the first night of the holiday (sundown, April 5) will find the evening full of symbolism and ritual.

The service includes the kadesh, in which the day is sanctified over a cup of wine, a recitation of the story of Exodus, prayers, songs and the festive meal. As the sun sets across the world's time zones, Jews and guests sit down for the Passover ceremonial meal, the Seder. Feasting on symbolic foods, they retell the 3,500-year-old story of their ancestors' flight from Egypt.

And what will they eat? At the first Passover feast, described in the Bible in Exodus, Jews ate only lamb, bitter herb and matzo (unleavened bread) before they fled from Egypt. During the Seder, the boiled eggs, lamb shank bones, bitter herbs and other foods remind participants of the thousands of years of suffering and deliverance.

Array of dishes

While shank bones and boiled eggs don't sound like much of a feast, the banquet is boosted by a dizzying array of dishes, from beef brisket to spinach souffle and savory or sweet noodle kugels. But no matter what else is served, charoseth is one of the most beloved dishes of the Seder.

It tastes great with everything, and everyone's mother makes it the way her family likes it or the way her mother made it. To Jews, charoseth means more than just a flavorful mixture of fruits, nuts and spices.

"Charoseth is supposed to represent the mortar the Jews made during the times of slavery in Egypt," says Amy Printz, a teacher of seventh and eighth grades at Beth Israel Religious School in Jackson, Miss. "You want it to have that consistency, but everybody makes it to their own taste"

"Depending upon where your family came from, meals and dishes are based upon what was available in the area," says Printz. "For instance, my family is Ashkenazic (from Eastern Europe), so we use what they had there - the apples, cinnamon, pecans, sugar and kosher wine. In Middle Eastern or Sephardic charoseth they use dates, raisins, almonds, walnuts, coconut, and I understand, in Syria, stuffed prunes are a big deal."

Matzo meal is occasionally added to help duplicate mortar's consistency, but as a Southerner, Printz jokes that she has not yet seen grits used.

"Although it's delicious, we only eat charoseth at Passover because it's traditional ... I mean, you don't cook Christmas goose all year long, do you? Plus after eating it for eight days, you get kind of tired of it."

Printz suggests non-Jews think of charoseth as "Waldorf salad without the mayonnaise and celery.

Israeli Charoseth

2 apples, peeled, cored, chopped

2 bananas, peeled, chopped

Juice and grated peel of 1/2 lemon

Juice and grated peel of 1/2 orange

15 dates pitted and chopped

1/2 cup ground pistachios

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup sweet Passover wine

5 tablespoons matzo meal

In a large bowl, combine apples, bananas, lemon juice and peel, orange juice and peel, dates and nuts; mix well. Add cinnamon, wine and matzo meal; blend thoroughly.

The Gourmet Jewish Cookbook (William Morrow; $25)