Matzo flour is made from unleavened bread eaten during Passover. The texture of matzo meal varies from fine to coarse, with medium being the most versatile. Finely ground matzo meal is best for delicate baked goods, while medium-grained meal is good for all-purpose use. Matzo farfel is chunky and best used for specific recipes. It’s important to use the suggested meal type for a recipe to ensure the best results.
Matzo flour is made by grinding flat unleavened bread traditionally eaten during the Jewish holiday of Passover, when leavened products made from grains, such as rye or wheat, are prohibited. Choosing the best matzo meal depends on which texture is best for the recipe you’re making. The meal comes in fine, medium, and coarse textures. The medium meal tends to be the most versatile, but it’s best to purchase the type specified for the type of dish.
Leavened foods are forbidden during Passover due to a biblical story that describes the Jewish people fleeing Egypt so quickly that preparing the bread did not have time to get up. The symbolic matzo is the cracker-like flat bread eaten during the holidays, but especially at the Seder dinner. Matzo meal can be ground to form the various textures of matzo meal that can be used to replace grains in standard recipes.
Finely ground matzo meal is also sold under the names “pie meal” or “matzo pie meal.” Use this type of matzo meal if you’re making delicate baked goods like pancakes, sweets, or pies. Pie meal makes the final product denser than it would normally appear, so you can mix in a small amount of potato starch to help correct this if you want the cooked product to be closer to its original consistency.
If a box of a supermarket meal is simply labeled “unleavened bread meal,” it’s usually medium-grained in texture. This is the best all-purpose meal to buy, as it can be used in baked goods, casseroles, and as a substitute for breadcrumbs to coat frying meat. Matzo balls, a traditional type of kosher dumpling, are made by combining this meal with broth, animal fat, and seasonings.
The largest matzo meal is called matzo farfel. Unlike the other types of meals, which look like powders or fine grains, butterfly comes in chunky chunks similar to larger panko breadcrumbs. This can also be ground up to work as a regular matzo or pie meal if those products aren’t on hand. Matzo butterfly is best purchased only when a recipe specifically calls for it, as other meals are more versatile.
Unless you’ve cooked with matzo meal in the past, it’s always best to research kosher recipes and use the suggested meal type. It can be difficult to predict how a dish will turn out if a different meal is used unless you have worked extensively with that type of meal. Bakery products in particular have a specific chemistry that must be respected or the final product will not have an adequate final result.
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