The Pesach seders I spent as a young child at the home of my grandparents Aba Naji and Nana Aziza will always be the gold standard. I will always cherish the impressions. My grandmother’s pristine home aglow with the light of her many candles. The long table set with piles of matzah, crystal bowls filled with halekh (Babylonian charoset made with date syrup and crushed walnuts) and piles of freshly washed romaine leaves. 

The many glasses waiting to be filled with wine and grape juice and the hard-boiled egg on each plate, as a memory of the korban (sacrifice) that was offered at the Holy Temple on the holiday of Passover two millennia ago. 

The anticipation in the air as my grandfather started the seder by holding up the round matzah and leading us in a singsong chant of “ha’lach’ma anya” (the bread of affliction) in Aramaic, as well as the ancient Babylonian Judeo-Arabic that my family spoke in Iraq. 

Then my grandparents would call Rafi and me over. In an act of generational continuity, they would tie matzahs wrapped in silk scarves around our backs. They would give us sticks and encourage us to pretend that we had just left Mitzrayim (Egypt). All the adults would play-act with us and ask where we had come from and where we were going. We would answer “Jerusalem!”

Pesach is the most perfectly scripted holiday. The perfect way to engage children in the redemption story of the Jewish people. 

The Haggadah sets the story against the backdrop of the great pyramids of Egypt, the mightiest empire in the world at the time. The mighty Pharoah stubbornly refuses to allow the enslaved Israelites to leave. He doubles down in the face of HaShem’s ten supernatural plagues, hardening his heart. Up until the slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians. 

Then the Israelites have to leave in haste, carrying with them matzah, the unleavened bread at the center of the holiday. 

Just when it seems like a clean getaway, Pharaoh and his army pursue the Israelites, pinning them against the depths of the Red Sea. There is another miraculous intervention by Hashem, who parts the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to escape yet again. The cruel Egyptians, their horses and their jewel-encrusted chariots drown at the bottom of the sea. 

Dayenu. 

Over the years, my beloved grandparents and my amazing, smart, funny and saintly father have left the stage. They leave a void that my mother, my brothers and sisters-in-law and Alan and I are tasked with filling. Passover is the opportunity to carry on the legacy and engage the next generation with the wonder. 

I am grateful to watch my children and my nephews and nieces embrace my family’s Iraqi traditions. It’s extra special to watch them savor my mother’s halekh. Every year, she painstakingly makes date syrup by boiling dates and straining the pulp through a cheesecloth and boiling the juice to make a delicious honey. 

While many of the traditions have remained the same, my family has picked up one very Ashkenazi tradition—to serve a roast for holiday meals. 

Rachel and I dreamed up this fabulous Best Passover Brisket recipe. It’s really simple and it will work with any cut of meat—brisket, chuck, shoulder or eye roast. There’s fresh parsley, Aleppo pepper, sweet paprika and jarred Silan, as well as lots of purple onion and garlic. The meat comes out tender, moist and oh so flavorful. 

It’s almost as miraculous as the Exodus story! 

—Sharon 

Over the years, my perspective of Passover has changed dramatically. 

When I was young, my excitement would be focused on finding the afikoman and receiving a special gift.

As a teen, Passover brought the burden of helping to clean the house. It meant looking forward to the drama of my father singing “Bibilou” and holding the seder plate over all our heads. But also sitting through a very long, boring seder, only broken by the parts where I enjoyed singing along. 

As a young, full-time working mother I dreaded the amount of work that came with Passover. It was always overwhelming to think about all the cleaning and all the cooking. 

As our children grew older Passover became more fun. Neil would buy dry ice and add it to the bowl. The kids would be so excited, watching the smoke come out of the bowl as we recited the 10 plagues. He would have all kinds of fun toys and children’s Haggadahs to engage the kids. Finding the afikoman was the highlight—our kids and nephews and nieces scoured the house to find it and we would always have many gifts to go around. 

During the week I would serve our favorite family Passover foods such as burmuelos (cheese matzah farfel pancakes) and “build your own” matza pizza, so they wouldn’t miss pasta too much.  

These days, I don’t feel the dread anymore. I feel like I’ve got this Passover thing down. I have a wonderful sense of accomplishment when the spring cleaning is complete. After all these years of hosting, I know that I’ll be cooking my family their favorite dishes. At the seder, I will set the scene with my best tablecloth, my finest china and sparkling crystal. 

My mother’s candelabra will grace the table. I will make my mother’s Moroccan soup, her potato and meat pastelitos and her delicious Moroccan fish recipe will be served in her fabulous fish dish. 

I will prepare my mother-in-law’s ancient Ladino recipe for yummy keftes de prasa (fried leek and potato patties).

Nowadays, my grown children look forward to gathering with family and a few friends at our table. Having my father sing bibilou is still the highlight and the kids still want to find the afikomen. 

When I think of Passover, I’m no longer frazzled. I focus on feeling the joy and the new memories we will create as our family grows. 

—Rachel 

Quick preserved lemon 

1 lemon, washed

1/2 cup kosher salt

Slice the lemon into thin rounds and remove seeds. 

Dip each lemon slice into the kosher salt and fully coat both sides.
Place the lemon in a plastic bag or a freezer safe container. Freeze for a few hours or a day.
Use just like preserved lemon.

Moroccan Fish

3 lbs sea bass (or any firm white flesh fish), filleted and cut into portions

1/4 tsp salt, for salting fish

2 medium eggplants 

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 leeks, thinly chopped

1 Tbsp cumin

2 Tbsp sweet paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

1 14oz can cherry tomatoes or diced tomatoes 

3 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped 

1 cup water 

1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

1 dry chili pepper 

1 Tbsp capers

1/2 preserved lemon, diced 

Place fish skin down on a plate lined with paper towel and season with salt. Set aside.

Partially peel the eggplant by leaving thin strips of skin. Cut the eggplant into 2 inch cubes, then place in a bowl. Liberally salt the eggplant, then toss so that all the pieces are salted. Set aside for 15 minutes. Use paper towel to remove the salt and squeeze the liquid from the eggplant.

In a large skillet or a Dutch oven with lid, warm 1/4 cup oil over low heat, then add sliced leeks and sauté until golden. Add the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper to the pot and stir to coat leeks. 

Place the eggplant in the pot and continue to sauté. Add the additional oil and keep stirring for two minutes.
Add the canned tomatoes, water and garlic and stir gently. Add the chopped cilantro, reserving a handful for garnish.

Add the preserved lemon (or lemon juice and chili pepper). 

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the eggplant doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Continue to simmer until juices have thickened and eggplant is soft.

Spoon all the thickened sauce into an ovenproof dish, then nestle fish tucked in the sauce. Bake immediately for 20 minutes at 350°F or refrigerate and bake before serving.

Garnish with fresh cilantro just before serving.

Best Passover Brisket

1 4lb brisket or shoulder roast

8 large cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar 

2 tsp sweet paprika 

1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper

3 tsp kosher salt 

1 tsp black pepper 

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1/4 cup organic Silan (date syrup)

1 cup chopped Italian parsley 

2 medium purple onions, cut into wedges 

1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place meat in a large roasting pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, brown sugar, paprika, Aleppo pepper, salt and pepper. Add oil, Silan and parsley and mix into a paste.

Spread the paste over the roast.

Place the onions around the roast and pour water around the edges of the pan. 

Cover with a crumpled sheet of wet parchment paper. Make sure to tuck the edges inside the pan to prevent dripping in the oven. 

Cover with a tight layer of aluminum foil. 

Roast in the oven for 2 hours, then remove from the oven to baste with juices. Add 1/2 cup more water if pan juices have evaporated. 

Lower oven to 300°F and roast for 1 to 2 hours until fork tender. 

Let the roast rest, then carve and serve with onions and juices. 

Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes.