Making Matzah

Passover 2020 / 5780 has come and gone. And, like everything else right now, it was strange, unique, and hopefully not to be repeated in the same way anytime soon. It is not like I had big plans for the holiday, but I did expect to be able to buy a box of matzah in Berlin, where we were supposed to be from April 2-8. Of course. we had to cancel the trip.

Two years ago, we were in Paris when Passover began, and I picked up a box of matzah there. We also attended a communal Seder. When the holiday ended, I wrapped up half of that matzah tightly in plastic wrap to save it for the following year. And, although it was somewhat stale, there is not much difference between fresh matzah and stale matzah. Eating that year-old matzah was my way of celebrating Passover in 2019.

When I realized we would not be traveling to Germany, or anywhere else where I might find matzah, I began to contemplate a Passover without matzah. Although the past few Passovers have been hit or miss, after a lifetime of family celebrations in the Torem family home, not having even a single piece of matzah was disconcerting. So, what is a “lonely Jew” in San Sebastian to do during a global pandemic? Make your own matzah, of course!

I have all the required tools and ingredients: a rolling pin, an oven, flour, and water. I figured, why not? Desperate times call for desperate measures. I looked online for a recipe, and it was simple enough. You can even ensure your matzah is truly kosher for Passover if you get the dough in the oven within the time specified by halacha (Jewish law).

So, the day before the first Seder, I made matzah – with Jeff’s assistance. It turns out that making matzah is not difficult, but it sure is messy. You need to keep your rolling pin and rolling surface well-floured, and damn if the dough didn’t keep sticking to them!

The recipe I used makes eight pieces of matzah. I think we got four of them into the oven within the official time limit. (We used a timer only to see how hard it would be to comply.) My matzah pieces were not exactly a uniform shape, as I was not too adept with the rolling pin. But the ultimate product did come out looking like matzah and even tasting like matzah. So, we considered it to be a moderate success, although not a process we are looking to replicate.

The matzah tasted best fresh out of the oven. By Seder time it had already deteriorated in taste by a lot.

Oddly, I participated in three Seders – our own “mini-Seder” (with minimal observances); then I participated by Zoom with my cousins in Toronto starting around 2:15 a.m. here; and then I switched over to my dear friends Lauren & Jeff’s Seder in Orange County, CA (also via Zoom). I begged off at around 5 a.m. and went back to bed. Thus, I did more this year for Passover than I had last year!

May we all be together with our families and friends again soon – certainly before Passover 2021!

Stay safe, sane, and healthy,

Shana & Jeff

Silves and Lisbon

Just a quick post on our last few days in Portugal. Although it took us almost six weeks to finish these, who knows when we will have another trip to post about? So, maybe better to draw it out a bit.

On our last day in the Algarve region, we drove to a small town called Silves, which has a really impressive Moorish castle that sits high on a hill overlooking the town (great defensive position). Although the Moors built and occupied the castle between the 8th and 13th centuries, the site was used as a fortification going back to the Romans in around 200 BCE.

While there is not a lot to see at the castle (other than the structure itself), there was some interesting sculpture being displayed along with an exhibit about the Iberian Lynx, a species that used to roam the Iberian Peninsula and what is now southern France in large numbers, but nearly went extinct due to over-hunting and the destruction of its habitat. Although still an endangered species, an effort to reintroduce the Iberian Lynx has had some success. It was an interesting, if strangely placed, exhibit.

Overall, it was a beautiful day, and the views were spectacular.

After the castle, even though wine is not yet a significant industry in the Algarve, we went to find a nearby winery. While it seemed like we were driving through the middle of nowhere, with nothing but citrus trees around us, we did eventually find the Quinta dos Vales winery, and did a lovely tasting sitting outside chatting with a couple of Canadians. While our discussion did touch on US politics, this was early enough (February 25), that the coronavirus did not even come up (it is actually difficult to remember the time when the coronavirus and its related disruptions were not the center of every conversation).

In addition, the gardens of the winery had a large number of interesting sculptures, one of which allowed Shana to show off the value of her yoga practice:

The next day, we left the Algarve and flew to Lisbon where we would spend two nights and a day. Although we had previously been there, bad planning (and bad weather) caused us to miss one of the primary tourists sites in the city: the Jeronimos Monastery. The Monastery, which was part of the Order of Saint Jerome (a monastic order that now is almost gone with only two small monasteries in Spain remaining), is a spectacular building with an impressive cloister:

Other than viewing the building architecture, the most interesting thing at the Monastery was a room containing an exhibition of large boards that traced the history of the world, Portugal and the Monastery together. We spent quite a bit of time there and still did not have enough time to read or absorb most of the information.

Finally, since we were back in Lisbon, we revisited two culinary favorites in the city. First, we went for pizza at Forno d'Oro, which may be the best Neapolitan-style pizza we have ever had outside of Italy; and second, we went back to the Lisbon Winery for another wine tasting curated by our Portuguese wine guru, Adriana. It was fantastic once again, and we did bring back two bottles of wine to enjoy (not enough), but I told Shana it would be fun to live in Lisbon for a few months and do a weekly class with Adriana to really learn about the many grape varietals that are only grown in Portugal. Maybe someday.

More to come, despite being confined to our apartment,

Jeff and Shana

Sagres – the Western Tip of the Algarve Region

We have a couple more posts about our February trip to Portugal for you. But before getting on to the next one, please know that we are doing well, all things considered. We are now 3 weeks into our “confinement,” and the good news is that we seem to have crested the curve and are on the downside here in San Sebastian. They think the peak of new cases in our area was March 27. Fortunately, where we live has not been impacted as badly as Madrid or the Barcelona area. So, we’re hoping things will continue to improve here and that the measures taken continue to have their desired result. That being said, the confinement will continue for another 3 weeks.

One of our favorite excursions in the Algarve region was out to Sagres, which is at the very southwest tip of Portugal. Two years ago, we were at the westernmost point in Europe – Cabo da Roca. And by driving all the way to Sagres, and to Cabo de São Vicente, we arrived at the place that in medieval times was believed to be the end of the world. This little tip of Portugal is stunning, with natural cliffs and strong breezes.

Sagres is a small town popular with surfers, and those that appreciate the laid-back lifestyle that surfing represents. The scenery is beautiful and there’s not a lot to do except take it all in.

What makes the journey worthwhile is visiting Fortaleza de Sagres. This fort dates from the 15th century and is unique because it only has one exterior wall. The rest of the fortress's defenses are provided by the towering 200-foot cliffs that were considered impossible for attackers to scale. They looked that way to us as we walked along the mile-long cliff-side path with great views. Like most of Europe, there is no barrier to stop you from venturing to the edge, only some warning signs. There were even some crazy locals fishing from the cliffs. Here are a few photos:

After enjoying the panorama, we ventured out to see the lighthouse at Cabo de São Vicente, which lies about four miles west of the fort. It’s a barren, desolate place, with the lighthouse sitting 250 feet above the sea, with a beam that can be seen 35 miles out to sea.

It was a long day, which started in Lagos (see prior post) and finished late in the afternoon with a long drive back. It was worth it though to experience the gorgeous landscape – and we found a great pizza place for lunch!

Stay safe and healthy,

Shana & Jeff