As local families
prepare for the
big holiday, local
businesses' sales of
Passover goods are
skyrocketing.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
very year around this time, the
1 cash register comes out at Con-
gregation Shaarey Zedek.
No, it is not time to pay syna-
gogue dues.
It's Pesach, the time when
many a Jewish cook relies on Paul
Kohn's Quality Kosher Catering
for part, if not all, of the home-
cooked seder meal.
"This is the only time of the
year that we do this kind of retail
trade," Mr. Kohn said.
While bakeries and pizza shops
close their doors during the holi-
day, other businesses that rely on
Jewish trade thrive during this,
their second busiest season of the
year. Trailing only Chanukah for
dollars brought in, Passover is
high holiday business season for
most caterers, gift shops and gro-
cery stores.
`This is the busiest week of the
year," said Ari Lerner, owner of
Lakewood Specialty Store in Oak
Park. Last Sunday, his store was
overrun with customers scooping
up kosher-for-Passover items from
his shelves. "People get a little
frantic."
But while the dollars roll in
fairly steadily across the board,
the preparations taken for the
business of holiday are very dif-
ferent.
For those dealing in the food
preparation industry, such as
catering or take-out, preparing
the kitchen for Passover requires
a full dismantling of the facilities
and cleaning.
Not any cleaning. Major clean-
ing.
Taking efforts Hercules might
admire, the workers in Paul
Kohn's kitchen — including many
hired specifically for this time —
first remove all items from the
pantry and the kitchen and then
thoroughly scrub the walls and
floors. Large equipment is also
given the once-over, making each
piece "shine like new," Mr. Kohn
said.
Next, the ovens are fired up to
1000 degrees Fahrenheit and a
blow torch is used on other equip-
Chuck Walter, Sonja Chouinard
and Lisa Missong crack dozens
and dozens of eggs.
PHOTOS BY BILL HANSEN
Matzah
Madness
ment to clear it of all possible
chametz (non-Passover foods). Fi-
nally, the Passover utensils are
brought up from storage, un-
wrapped and washed for use.
Then the cooking begins.
Mr. Kohn said the week, while
not the busiest, takes by far the
most efforts.
"Memorial Day weekend and
Fourth of July, where we have
four or five bookings, those are
busy weekends," he said. "But this
requires the most effort."
Alan Linker of Sperber's Cater-
ing knows the feeling.
Although he always had to
clean and prepare his kitchen, the
crew the past few years retired
from cooking for those eight days.
After a change of heart, the
company this year offered a full
Passover menu as well as ala
carte selections.
And they are glad they did. So
far, hundreds of orders have been
called, mailed or faxed in for the
holiday.
`The response we are getting is
tremendous, more than we ex-
pected," Mr. Linker said.
Corena Walter and Cathy Teasdale at Quality Kosher ready Chocolate Oblivion.
For other businesses, like gift
shops and grocery stores, the
preparations mean stocking the
shelves with plenty of items used
for seders.
At Esther's Judaica and Gift
World in West Bloomfield, the
Passover business is steady in the
weeks before the holiday but re-
ally starts to move a day or two
before the first night.
"That is when people are un-
packing their seder plate and re-
alizing it broke since the last time
they used it," store manager
MATZAH page 76
a,
ti
0)
cc
0
75