1y ago

My half-Jewish daughter tried matzo for the first time today. Egg and onion. The best kind of matzo. She declared it "just okay."

This is why we never gave her a bat mitzvah.

Oh, but does she want 8 Hanukkah presents every year? You bet she does.

Clearly she inherited the multi-generation Indiana family food gene from her non-Jewish mother. Either that, or this is not my daughter. Should I go on Maury?

I'm not even going to try with the gefilte fish. I don't need the tsouris.

And I'll tell you one thing- she isn't going looking for an afikomen come Passover.

Non-Jews: it's probably best to just ignore my rant. Thank you.

EDIT: Hmm. Guess people here aren't matzo fans either. Oh well.

31 comments

Wait, wait, wait.... You mean to tell me that a kid was picky about FOOD???
Has the world gone topsy turvey???
- But matzo is more than just food. It's kind of an important part of Jewish culture in a lot of ways.
  I mean I'm not going to force her to eat it or anything. It just sucks to me that she was so uninterested.
  
  Kids + Culture aren't always a good combination, I know my brother and I hated the cultural things we were told and taught up until our early teens when we started to understand it's important.
  Might have to wait a few more years before she'll actually start to understand why it's important to you.
  
  I hated most of my parents favorite foods until I was in highschool and even then I was still kind of picky until I was in my 20s. My niece refused to eat anything but chicken nuggets and strawberries until she was like 15. Kids are weird dude lol
What's-a matzo with her?
- Right? Especially when we're also both crackers! And as a white person, I demand my daughter enjoy bland food!
  
  I've never particularly thought that Jewish food staples are bland, but rather subtle or purposeful.
  We're sorely lacking a good Jewish deli where I live, and it's a constant source of frustration for me.
Wait, do you actually like matzah?! I’m totally on your daughter’s side lol. It was always a groan in my household. Ugh, time for a week of cardboard sandwiches.
The only thing to look forward to was sweet matzah-brie: matzah soaked in water to soften it up, then soaked in eggs with cinnamon, sautéed, then covered with maple syrup or sugar. Basically matzah French toast.
Yeah, I wouldn’t bother making her try gefilte fish, unless you make it yourself in your bathtub!
- Plain matzo? Not at all. Egg and onion? I could eat a whole box.
  Also, that matzo-brie sounds amazing. When I was a kid, we used to eat it with "vegetarian chopped liver," which was made from green beans, eggs, walnuts and some other stuff all chopped up in a food processor. I've never had actual chopped liver, so I don't know how it compares, but I can taste it now. It was really good. And I don't even like green beans or walnuts.
  Edit: Found a recipe. It also has onions, forgot about that.
  https://www.food.com/recipe/vegetarian-chopped-liver-green-beans-50320
  
  Hah! Funny you bring up chopped liver. That was one of the only things my parents could get me to eat on matzah until I found out what it was…then I was piiiissed at them for withholding that vital information. What a dumb kid I must have been. Your veggie version sounds excellent!
- My family made a savory matzoh brei with onion and shredded cheddar, and we still covered it in maple syrup lol. To this day it remains one of my favorite comfort foods!
- I don't think it's humanly possible not to like latkes. Sour cream and applesauce please!!
- After lighting the candles we used to bang on the table and chant suf-ga-niyot! suf-ga-niyot! like the little animals we were…
  Needless to say, it took weeks to get the smell of oil out of our clothes with all the latkes and donuts we devoured….
I feel like "Okay" for a new food is normal. I've never loved a new food the first time, it's either gross or fine and if it's fine then maybe I need to cook it different or just try it a few different ways before it's more familiar then I'll enjoy it.
Basically this might be a food that in 20-30 years she's sitting down with her kid and making them try it cause it's "the best food" and being really upset by a lacklustre response.
Try cutting her into small pieces and feeding her to the hounds
I fucking love jew food, I had some matzo ball soup the other day for the first time and it was great
- She didn't care much for that either, but she doesn't like chicken soup much to begin with, so I'll let that one slide.
It's the egg and onions that might be an acquired taste for some. Ei met ui...we Dutch call it, and will pronounce it in a the Hague accent. "Eh meh uh."
I like matse with semi old Gouda or Edammer cheese please, because it taste kinda saltless, but with a good topping I can eat a whole pack.
This gentile loves him some matzo. And gefilte fish is amazing.
I only care for a well-made matzoh ball soup. Matzoh on its own is kind of blah.

31 comments