APRIL 7 • 2022 | 29

W

hen you conduct a 
seder, after kiddush, 
the Mishnah tells us, 
they bring you “matzah, lettuce, 
charoset and two cooked dishes” 
(Pesahim 10:2), what we think of 
as the “seder plate.
” The Mishnah 
defines “matzah” (at 2:5) and 
specifies that lettuce is one of the 
five varieties of bitter herbs (at 
2:6) — but it never defines char-
oset.
The Talmud tells us what to 
do with charoset, but it also 
never tells us what charoset is. 
We dip the lettuce, apparently in 
charoset (Talmud Pesahim 114a). 
Rabbi Eliezer tells us that char-
oset fulfills a mitzvah, though he 
does not say which mitzvah; the 
other rabbis say it does not fulfill 
a mitzvah (Mishnah Pesahim 
10:2). If charoset is not a mitzvah, 
why does one bring it? Rabbi Ami 
says, “to counteract the bitterness 
(kapa) of the bitter herb.
” 
Dip the bitter herb in charoset, 
but Rav Pappa warns, do not 
leave it too long, as its sweetness 
would completely nullify the bit-
terness (Pesahim 116a). 
Other rabbis in the Talmud tell 
us that charoset has a symbolic 
purpose. Rabbi Levi says we have 
it: “In memory of the apple tree” 
(Pesahim 116a). Which apple tree? 
The only apple mentioned in the 
Bible, where the female lover tells 
her male paramour, “under the 
apple tree I roused you” (Song of 
Songs 8:8). (Note: Genesis does not 
reveal specifically what type of 
forbidden fruit Adam and Eve 
consumed, although sometimes 
portrayed as an apple.)

Regarding charoset, Rabbi 
Levi proclaims it: “In memory of 
the mud” (Pesahim 116a). Which 
mud? In Egypt, the Hebrew slaves 
made bricks of mud and straw 
(Exodus 5).
Rabbi Yohanan says: “Spices in 
memory of the straw.
”
Rabbi Levi tells us charoset 
looks like mud, Rabbi Yohanan 
that it has spices, and Rabbi Ami 
tells us that charoset is sweet — 
but no one tells us what charoset 
is. Why does no one tell us what 
charoset is? 

FINALLY, A RECIPE
A few centuries later, in his anno-
tated prayerbook, Rav Saadia 
ben Yosef Gaon (born in Egypt 
in about 882, died in Baghdad 
around 942), finally provides us 
with a recipe for charoset. He 
finishes the recipe with the obser-
vation, “it is halek.
” 

 In Rav Saadia’s time, people 
still used the dip, but under a 
different name. It seems that no 
one needed to define charoset 
because everyone used this kind 
of dip. Think of how a modern 
cookbook might mention ketch-
up without describing it. 
Here is Rav Saadia’s recipe: 
“One cooks up a sauce of dates, 
walnuts, sesame and kneads them 
with vinegar — and it is called 
‘halek.
’” Saadia Gaon’s descrip-
tion of charoset matches recipes 
from the Sephardic and Mizrachi 
world; the recipes often use the 
word “halek.
” 
A variety of recipes for “halek” 
or charoset gathered from India 
to North Africa resemble Rav 
Saadia’s. Joan Nathan, writing in 
the New York Times, describes halek 
as: “Iraqi date syrup. Dating back 
at least to the Babylonian exile in 
579 B.C., this date jam, like those 

from grapes, pomegranates and 
bee honey, was a sweetener in the 
ancient world. It is still served 
today in various forms by Iraqi, 
Syrian, Burmese and Indian Jews. 
Maimonides has a version of 
charoset that could include dates, 
but he also allows other sweet 
fruits of Israel along with the vin-
egar and spices: figs, grapes, and 
pomegranates. “How do we make 
it? We take dates or figs or raisins 
or similar items and mash them, 
and we put vinegar in them, and 
spice them with spices, like mud 
with straw, and place it on the 
table on the nights of Passover” 
(Mishneh Torah, Zemanim, Laws of 
Leavened and Unleavened Bread, 
7:11).
The finished product, a sweet 
and sour fruit-based dipping 
sauce, probably resembles the 
duck sauce that we think of as 
Chinese. 

FOOD

Searching for an authentic recipe for this seder staple.

The Centuries-Old 
Mystery of Charoset

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Sephardic 
Recipe on 
page 32

