Homemade Matzo

For most people, myself included, matzo comes from a box, which begins to show up in grocery stores in abundance around March (although it can reliably be found year-round). There’s not much of a push for folks to make their own matzo because the unleavened bread is usually reserved for Passover, at which time it’s essential that it be kosher for Passover, a process that, according to religious standards, requires the use of special flour — one that hasn’t been treated with water — and well water. In order to be considered kosher for Passover, matzo must also be made, from start to finish, in under 18 minutes.

With parameters so strict, you might wonder why someone would ever go to the trouble to make matzo at all. I did — until I had made it myself and realized that, like most things made from scratch, freshly baked matzo has a whole different vibe. Even if it’s not quite kosher enough to stand up to Seder scrutiny, making a batch of matzo can be a delightful and delicious way to connect to the Passover story.

Matzo, aka the “bread of affliction,” is an unleavened bread made from flour and water. It is a staple of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which takes place in the spring and commemorates the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. According to the story, the newly freed Jews didn’t have enough time to allow their bread to rise, and so they fled Egypt with the unleavened bread called matzo. To honor this, observers of Passover refrain from eating any leavened flour product during the eight days of Passover.

There is no difference between matzo and matzah, or any of the other spellings you may encounter.

Central to the Seder, Passover’s ceremonial meal, matzo is also the key ingredient in the Ashkenazi comfort food, matzo ball soup, where it’s transformed into a kind of dumpling.

It’s also the perfect starting point for a fancy matzo breakfast. And speaking of breakfast, I crumble it up into matzo farfel (or matzo pieces, not to be confused with the finer-ground matzo meal) for matzo brei, where it plumps up with egg and a splash of milk. Plus, homemade matzo has a toasted crunchiness that perfectly showcases salted butter or softened cream cheese.