Matzo Brei Is Great, but the Best Part Is the Endless Condiment Possibilities

Since the dawn of time, people have argued over whether French fries should be dipped into ketchup or mayo, whether pancakes are best with blueberries or chocolate chips. Amongst my Jewish friends and family, I have seen similarly vicious fights over whether matzo brei —which is essentially broken pieces of matzo soaked with water and egg and then fried — should be served with sugar (or jam) or salt.

For those uninitiated, matzo brei is easy to pick up and dip into anything, so this sweet versus savory argument is entirely unnecessary. I’m here to volunteer as Switzerland: Not only should sugar and salt be a part of the rotation, but essentially any half-open condiment you have in your fridge should also be nominated. Since matzo brei is relatively flavorless on its own — imagine if you made fried rice with only vegetable oil and egg, nothing else — it’s a blank slate for how you want to doctor it up.

Think of your matzo brei dip options as you would a taco or ice cream sundae bar: You can create the perfect version, but the journey is an intensely personal one. For example, while I think its blasphemous to put a cherry on top of a sundae, I still respect your decision to do so.

Before serving matzo brei, I comb through my fridge for all those random jars I didn’t know I still had. I put them out in a row along the table and then spoon various options on my plate (separately though — mixing them together would not be ideal in most cases). I’m looking at you, strawberry jam that got stuck in a deep corner and that fancy mustard I got as a gift that I never opened yet still put in the fridge. Perhaps that pesto you made last night could be the answer you seek. Kimchi? Definitely. Sauerkraut? You bet. Plain yogurt sprinkled with a dried spice of my choosing? Let’s do it.

While I might recommend having one plate for savory and then a different one for sweeter options, I’m not the matzo brei police. The key is the condiment journey, remember? (And, the added bonus of using food items you potentially forgot about.)

Oh, but for the record, if I really had to choose between sugar and salt, I’m Team Sugar all the way.