Charoset

I bought a food processor many years ago just so I wouldn’t have to prepare this by hand. (Dates are sticky.) This is kind of a Sephardic/New World mashup, adapted from a recipe in Nina Rousso’s The Passover Gourmet. Ashkenazic charoset is pretty bland stuff. I don’t even remember what the charoset I had growing up tasted like, and I’m pretty sure that was because it wasn’t made by my Egyptian uncle.

Charoset (חֲרֽוֹסֶת)

• 12 oz. pitted whole dates (Medjool are good)
• 1 cup raisins (you can use half dark and half golden)
• 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon orange juice

Put everything in the food processor. The dates will stick to the blade, so don’t put them at the bottom. Chop in pulses, stirring in between so that it more or less gets cut up equally, until is is the consistency you want. If you blend it too long it will be a paste rather than a chutney, but some people like that. Serve with matzoh or other bland crackers. Cover and refrigerate the leftovers.

If you don’t have a food processor, I’m afraid you are just going to have to cut everything up into small pieces and mix it together in a bowl. Rinse the knife blade with water frequently so the dried fruit sticks to it less. You’ll have the food processor next year.